Sect Member Gets Suspended Prison Term in Child Abuse Case

A New Mexico judge sentenced a member of a paramilitary religious to a suspended three-year prison term in a child sex abuse case.

Associated Press/January 29, 2019

Grants, New Mexico — A New Mexico judge sentenced a member of a paramilitary religious to a suspended three-year prison term in a child sex abuse case.

The Gallup Independent reports that Amos River, also known as Joshua Wentzell, was sentenced Friday in Los Lunas by state District Judge James Sanchez after pleading no contest to conspiring to tamper with evidence.

River acknowledged trying to hide children during an investigation by Cibola County law enforcement, failure to report the births of one or more of his six children, and conspiring with his wife in failing to report the births.

Authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake compound in 2017 following a lengthy investigation.

Sect co-leaders James and Deborah Green have been sentenced to prison terms in the case.