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The Cult Dossier · No. 118 · Christian-Derived

Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps

ACMTC

1981 – present · Berino, New Mexico

XII. THE WIDER FIELD — CONCISE ENTRIES

Fully religious — militant charismatic

Who led it

JAMES GREEN (General Jim) and DEBORAH GREEN (General Deborah).

What it worshipped and taught

A militarised Christianity with ranks, uniforms and camouflage. Doctrine of spiritual warfare taken literally; children raised in the compound, denied education, and subjected to beatings and confinement.

Who was in it

James and Deborah Green; the adult survivors who testified from 2016 onward.

How it ended, or where it stands

Prosecuted, then unprosecuted, then re-convicted on appeal; proceedings remain open.

The dead

1 child — ENOCH MILLER, 12, who died in 2014 of an untreated illness at the Fence Lake compound

Of note

CORRECTED AUGUST 2026. An earlier version of this file garbled the sentences and charges, and asserted as fact that Deborah Green was a fugitive at large. NONE OF THAT WAS SUPPORTED BY A PRIMARY SOURCE and it has been removed. The documented record is narrower and still serious: a twelve-year-old boy died of an untreated illness at the compound in 2014; Green pleaded no contest in 2018 to reckless child abuse and evidence tampering and received 18 years; she was released in January 2022 when a judge set her plea aside; and the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously reinstated the conviction in April 2025, remanding for further proceedings. The file is a case study in a prosecution that collapsed and was then revived on appeal. It is also representative of the militarised-church category: ranks, uniforms, camouflage, and children raised inside without education.

Its timeline

  1. 1981 Founded in SACRAMENTO, California; later moves to Klamath Falls, Oregon, then BERINO, NEW MEXICO in 1993, and finally to a compound near FENCE LAKE.
  2. 2014 ENOCH MILLER, AGED 12, DIES at the group's remote compound at FENCE LAKE, Cibola County, after a prolonged illness during which he received NO MEDICAL TREATMENT.
  3. AUGUST 2017 Acting on a tip from Enoch's father, BILL MILLER, deputies and state investigators raid the compound and find the boy's grave. NINE MEMBERS are arrested; Deborah Green's son-in-law PETER GREEN faces 100 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child.
  4. 2018 DEBORAH GREEN PLEADS NO CONTEST to one count of RECKLESS CHILD ABUSE RESULTING IN GREAT BODILY HARM and TWO COUNTS OF EVIDENCE TAMPERING. SHE IS SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS. A separate 72-YEAR sentence, for kidnapping, child sexual abuse and abuse, is LATER SET ASIDE FOR PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT. JAMES GREEN pleads no contest to child abuse and gets 10 years; he has since been released to probation.
  5. 28 JANUARY 2022 A district judge grants her habeas petition, finding the evidence did not support the first-degree conviction, and SETS THE PLEA ASIDE. She is released — not pardoned and not paroled.
  6. 21 APRIL 2025 THE NEW MEXICO SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY REINSTATES THE CONVICTION, holding that her habeas corpus claim FAILED TO MEET THE LEGAL STANDARD FOR PROVING ACTUAL INNOCENCE. The case is REMANDED TO THE 13TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, whose prosecutors say they will seek reinstatement of her sentence.
  7. 2025–2026 PROCEEDINGS ARE ONGOING. Some secondary accounts say a warrant is out and her whereabouts are unknown. THIS FILE HAS FOUND NO COURT OR LAW-ENFORCEMENT SOURCE FOR THAT AND MAKES NO CLAIM ABOUT IT.

Its people

Deborah Green

General Deborah

Co-leader, Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps · born c.1950s · active 1981–2022

Co-founded a militarised Christian sect with her husband James Green and styled herself THE GENERAL. The group ran on military ranks, uniforms and camouflage at a secluded compound at FENCE LAKE, Cibola County, New Mexico, where children were raised without schooling. Her legal history is among the most erratic in this dossier. Green pleaded NO CONTEST in 2018 to reckless child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and to two counts of evidence tampering, and was sentenced to 18 YEARS. In JANUARY 2022 she was released when a judge set her plea aside. In APRIL 2025 the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously reinstated the conviction and remanded the case.

Before the law. PLEADED NO CONTEST 2018 to reckless child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and two counts of evidence tampering; sentenced to 18 years. RELEASED January 2022 when her plea was set aside. CONVICTION REINSTATED unanimously by the New Mexico Supreme Court on 21 April 2025 and remanded for further proceedings.

Where things stand. PROCEEDINGS ONGOING. Some secondary accounts say a warrant is out and her whereabouts are unknown; THIS FILE HAS FOUND NO COURT OR LAW-ENFORCEMENT SOURCE FOR THAT AND ASSERTS NOTHING ABOUT IT. An earlier version of this file stated as fact that she was a fugitive at large; that has been withdrawn.

  1. 1981 Co-founds the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps with James Green in Sacramento, California.
  2. 1980s–2010s The group relocates to New Mexico; children are raised at the Fence Lake compound without formal education.
  3. 2014
  4. AUGUST 2017 The compound is raided after a tip from Enoch's father; she is arrested.
  5. 2018 PLEADS NO CONTEST to reckless child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and two counts of evidence tampering. SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS. A separate 72-year sentence is later set aside for prosecutorial misconduct.
  6. 28 JANUARY 2022 RELEASED after a district judge grants her habeas petition and sets the plea aside.
  7. 21 APRIL 2025 THE NEW MEXICO SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY REINSTATES the conviction, holding her habeas claim failed to meet the standard for proving actual innocence. Case REMANDED to the district court.
  8. 2025–2026 Proceedings ongoing.

Checked 2026-09-16 · living: health details are kept at home

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