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400 Children In Custody from Polygamist Compound

It started last Thursday when authorities obtained a search warrant after receiving a complaint from a young girl that claimed she was being abused and had an eight month old child from an older man.

    Authorities believe the girl, who has an 8-month-old daughter, was 15 when she was married. A 2005 change in state law, prompted by concern about the sect, raised the state legal age for a girl to marry from 14 to 16.

On our first report, 52 children had been removed from Yearn for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, Texas, which is a polygamist compound that used to be run by Warren Jeff, now in jail for rape-related charges for marrying off a 14-year-old girl, in November and was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in Utah.

That first report was quickly updated as the number of people removed from that compound grew.

The came the news that there was a tense standoff at the compound as the they people who live there stopped cooperating with authorities.

The standoff ended peacefully and police and children welfare workers continued to remove children and some mothers left to be with their children who are now in the state’s custody.

Reports from today show there are now 401 children being cared for by the state after having been removed from the polygamist compound.

The girl that called in the original complaint has still not been located and neither has her child.

Allison Palmer, first assistant district attorney for the 51st judicial district, which includes Schleicher County, where the complex is located says, “Certainly, I have a concern for her health and well-being, certainly a concern for her safety.”

    Temporary custody was awarded by a state district judge, Meisner said. Each child will be appointed a guardian ad litem and an attorney ad litem to represent their interests, she said.

    In addition, 133 women have voluntarily joined the children, who are being held at an historic site, Fort Concho, that includes facilities for lodging.

The authorities are not done searching the compound so the number of children removed will probably still rise.

The report goes on to say, one man, as of now, has been arrested for not cooperating with the authorities. No other details on that arrest are available at this time.

According to Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, this is the largest endeavor that her organization has ever had to deal with in the state of Texas.

Polygamous-sect children ordered to stay in Texas custody

By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 19, 9:13 AM ET

SAN ANGELO, Texas - A chaotic two-day hearing ended with dropped heads and silence when a judge ordered that the 416 children taken from a ranch run by a polygamous sect will stay in state custody for the time being.

State District Judge Barbara Walther heard 21 hours of testimony over two days before ruling Friday that the children would be kept in custody while the state continues to investigate allegations of abuse stemming from the teachings of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"This is but the beginning," Walther said.

She also ordered genetic testing to sort out family relationships that have confounded welfare authorities.

Individual hearings will be set for the children over the next several weeks, and the judge will determine whether they are moved into permanent foster care or can be returned to their parents. All of the hearings must be held by June 5.

Walther ordered all 416 children and parents be given genetic tests. Child welfare officials say they've had difficulty determining how the children and adults are related because of evasive or changing answers.

A mobile genetic lab will take samples Monday at the main shelter where children are being kept; parents will be able to submit samples Tuesday in Eldorado, closer to the ranch.

The custody case is one of the largest and most convoluted in U.S. history. The ruling on Friday capped two days of marathon testimony that sometimes descended into chaos as hundreds of lawyers for the children and parents competed to defend their clients in two large rooms linked by a video feed.

Attorneys popped up with objections in a courtroom and nearby auditorium, then queued up and down the aisle to cross-examine witnesses in a mass hearing that frustrated attorneys and stretched the small-town court system.

The April 3 raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch was prompted by a call made to a family violence shelter, purportedly by a 16-year-old girl who said her 50-year-old husband beat and raped her. That girl has never been identified.

The state argued it should be allowed to keep the children because the sect's teaching encourages girls younger than 18 to enter spiritual marriages with older men and produce as many children as possible. Its attorneys argued that the culture put all the girls at risk and potentially turned the boys into future predators.

A witness for the parents who was presented by defense lawyers as an expert on the FLDS disputed that the girls have no say in who they marry.

"I believe the girls are given a real choice," said W. John Walsh. "Girls have successfully said, 'No, this is not a good match for me,' and they remained in good standing."

But Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist who has studied children in cults, testified that the girls will not refuse marriages because they are indoctrinated to believe disobedience will lead to their damnation.

The renegade Mormon sect's belief system "is abusive. The culture is very authoritarian," he said.

Perry acknowledged that many adults at the ranch are loving parents and that the boys seemed emotionally healthy. When asked whether the belief system really endangered the older boys or young children, Perry said, "I have lost sleep over that question."

He also conceded that the children, taught from birth to believe that contact with the outside world will lead to eternal damnation, would suffer if placed in traditional foster care.

"If these children are kept in the custody of the state, there would have to be exceptional and innovative programmatic elements for these children and their families," he said. "The traditional foster care system would be destructive for these children."

CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said the department was pleased with the judge's ruling and believes that the children will now be safe.

It's not clear how quickly the children might be moved from the coliseum and fairgrounds where they are staying on cots into foster homes or other temporary housing, but they could be placed with family members if CPS determines the children will be safe, Meisner said.

Four women testified Friday, and all said they were free to make their own choices. They also said they would do whatever it took to get their children returned to them.

"We're a peaceful people," Lucille Nielson said. Life on their 1,700-acre gated ranch "is very peaceful. You can feel the peace when you are there. Very loving. We raise our children in a loving environment."

But the women also acknowledged that girls get married at ages younger than the state allows.

Some of the women bowed their heads when the judge issued her order to keep the children in state custody. They left the columned courthouse stoically, ignoring questions shouted by reporters.

They'll face more hearings, and some could be required to take steps to prove to Child Protective Services that they should be allowed to regain custody.

Tim Edwards, a lawyer representing four mothers, said the women would comply with the judge's orders.

"We are going to comply with the orders of the court, we're going to cooperate with CPS and their requirements and do everything within our power to turn the situation around," he said.

Texas Rangers also are investigating a Colorado woman as a "person of interest" related to calls made to a family crisis center. Police arrested Rozita Swinton, 33, on Wednesday in Colorado Springs on a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities for a call she made in late February.

Authorities did not say whether a call by Swinton might be the one that triggered the raid.

But officers who searched her home found items suggesting a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding a compound owned by FLDS in Arizona and one in Eldorado, the Texas Department of Public Safety said late Friday. The items weren't identified.

"The information, evidence and a statement obtained from Swinton by the Texas Rangers while they were in Colorado will be forwarded to state and federal prosecutors for their review and determination whether Swinton will be charged with a criminal offense," the statement said.

Swinton's whereabouts were unknown, and it wasn't known whether she had an attorney. A phone number for her in Colorado Springs was disconnected.

Authorities in Colorado confirmed Swinton has a history of making false reports.

Polygamous-sect children ordered to stay in Texas custody (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080419/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat;_ylt=Arh63kHhATqfGtFghE825ZxH2ocA)