Cibola Citizen
April 23, 2025
FENCE LAKE, N.M. – The New Mexico Supreme Court has reinstated the child abuse conviction of Deborah Green, a cofounder of the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps cult in Fence Lake, New Mexico, reversing a lower court’s decision that had ordered her release and dismissed her charges.
In a unanimous opinion issued April 21, the state’s highest court found that Green’s habeas corpus claim failed to meet the legal standard of proving actual innocence in the 2014 death of 12-year-old Enoch Miller, who died after suffering a prolonged illness without medical treatment while living at the group’s remote compound in Fence Lake, Cibola County.
The justices concluded that Green’s failure to seek timely medical care “resulted in the great bodily injuries that E.M. undisputedly endured,” referring to the boy by his initials. “Far from exonerative in nature, the district court’s unchallenged causation finding directly implicated Defendant in the commission of the crime,” Justice C. Shannon Bacon wrote in the Court’s opinion.
Green had pleaded no contest in 2018 to reckless child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, as well as two counts of evidence tampering. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison. However, she later filed a habeas petition claiming she was not legally responsible for the boy’s condition, which was believed to have stemmed from untreated influenza.
A district judge granted the petition in 2022, ruling that the evidence did not support a first-degree felony conviction. That ruling has now been overturned.
In its decision, the Supreme Court clarified that claims of actual innocence can be raised in postconviction proceedings even by individuals convicted through plea agreements, not just by jury verdicts. Still, the Court emphasized that such claims must be backed by “new affirmative evidence,” which it found lacking in Green’s case.
According to court documents, Green was once regarded by followers as an “Oracle of God” within the cult-like ministry, exerting complete control over compound residents — including finances, daily life, and access to medical care. Founded in the early 1980s, the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps operated for decades under various names, often evading public scrutiny despite reports of abuse.
That changed in 2017 when Bill Miller, Enoch’s father and a former member of the group, approached law enforcement with concerns about his missing son. Acting on that tip, Cibola County Sheriff’s deputies and state investigators raided the group’s rural compound, ultimately discovering Enoch’s grave and uncovering widespread abuse, including child labor, denial of medical treatment, and sexual assault.
Nine members of the group, including Green and her husband, James Green, were arrested following the raid. Court records show Deborah Green was convicted in 2018 of kidnapping, child rape, and abuse, receiving a 72-year sentence in addition to the plea agreement. That conviction was later set aside due to prosecutorial misconduct, and the charges were dismissed in 2022 after key witnesses became unavailable.
As of 2025, Green’s conviction for Enoch’s death is now legally restored.
James Green also pleaded no contest to child abuse in a separate case and received a ten-year sentence in 2018. According to the New Mexico Corrections Department, he has since been released to probation.
Former members, including Deborah and James Green’s daughter Sarah, have since come forward to describe years of abuse and isolation.
Former Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace, who led the investigation, said the 2017 arrests were necessary to stop a cycle of abuse and exploitation that had gone unchecked for far too long. “These arrests had to happen because kids were being abused and getting smuggled in from other countries,” Mace said at the time. “We had to bring this organization to light in order to protect children.”
According to court documents, Enoch’s mother, Stacey Miller, was also arrested and accused of failing to seek medical treatment for her son, instead relying on prayer at the encouragement of group leaders.
Despite setbacks in prosecution over the years, the New Mexico State Supreme Court’s decision ensures that one of the most serious charges tied to Enoch’s death will remain on the books. It also marks a significant moment in New Mexico jurisprudence — affirming that constitutional protections apply to all convicted defendants, but so too does the burden of proving true innocence.
https://www.cibolacitizen.com/news/supreme-court-restores-child-abuse-conviction-fence-lake-cult-leader
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