Moms of 11 kids found at remote New Mexico compound arrested
11 children living in squalor in New Mexico (ITN/Inform)
This Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, photo released by Taos County Sheriff's Office shows a rural compound during an unsuccessful search for a missing 3-year-old boy in Amalia, N.M. Law enforcement officers searching the compound for the missing child didn't locate him but found 11 other children in filthy conditions and hardly any food, a sheriff said Saturday. The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.in Taos, N.M. (Taos County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, aerial photo released by Taos County Sheriff's Office shows a rural compound during an unsuccessful search for a missing 3-year-old boy in Amalia, N.M. Law enforcement officers searching the compound for the missing child didn't locate him but found 11 other children in filthy conditions and hardly any food, a sheriff said Saturday. The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.in Taos, N.M. (Taos County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, photo released by Taos County Sheriff's Office shows a rural compound after being found in filthy conditions during an unsuccessful search for a missing 3-year-old boy in Amalia, N.M. Law enforcement officers searching the compound for the missing child didn't locate him but found 11 other children in filthy conditions and hardly any food, a sheriff said Saturday. The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.in Taos, N.M. (Taos County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, photo released by Taos County Sheriff's Office shows Siraj Wahhaj. Wahhaj was jailed on a Georgia warrant alleging child abduction after law enforcement officers searching a rural northern New Mexico compound for a missing 3-year-old boy found 11 children in filthy conditions and hardly any food. The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia, N.M, and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said. Hogrefe said the search did not turn up the missing boy, but that investigators had reason to believe the boy had been at the compound fairly recently. (Taos County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, photo released by Taos County Sheriff's Office shows Lucas Morten. Morten was arrested on suspicion of harboring a fugitive after law enforcement officers searching a rural northern New Mexico compound for a missing 3-year-old boy found 11 children in filthy conditions and hardly any food. The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia, N.M, and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said. Hogrefe said the search did not turn up the missing boy, but that investigators had reason to believe the boy had been at the compound fairly recently. (Taos County Sheriff's Office via AP)
TAOS, N.M. — Authorities say they’ve arrested three women believed to be the mothers of 11 children found living in filth in a makeshift compound in rural northern New Mexico.
Taos County, New Mexico, Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said Monday that the women and two men who were arrested over the weekend face charges of child abuse.
He says 35-year-old Jany Leveille, 38-year-old Hujrah Wahhaj and 35-year-old Subhannah Wahha were arrested without incident in the town of Taos and booked into jail.
The children aging in range from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia near the Colorado border. They were turned over to state child-welfare workers.
Hogrefe says police still are looking for 4-year-old AG Wahhaj, reported missing from Georgia’s Clayton County. His birthday is Monday.
