2 leaders of religious sect plead not guilty to child abuse

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Two leaders of a New Mexico paramilitary religious sect have pleaded not guilty to charges connected to a child abuse investigation.

Deborah Green and Peter Green entered pleas Monday in Cibola County District Court.

Co-leader Deborah Green and high-ranking leader Peter Green of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training are being held on $500,000 cash surety bond in connection with child sexual abuse charges stemming from a raid last month on their compound.

The secluded compound is in the high desert of western New Mexico.

Peter Green, also known as Mike Brandon, faces 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child on suspicion of raping a girl from the time she was 7.

The group, founded in California, says the allegations are “totally false.”