Women of polygamist retreat speak out
Women of polygamist retreat speak out
By JENNIFER DOBNER and MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writers 31 minutes ago
ELDORADO, Texas - Mothers separated from their children as part of a wide-ranging abuse investigation within a polygamist retreat accuse state officials of misleading them before taking their children into custody.
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Authorities raided the sect's ranch more than a week ago in response to allegations that underage girls were forced to marry older men. Women and children from the secretive community were taken to a West Texas fort-turned-museum and a rodeo pavilion, but on Monday officials began separating women and some of their children without warning, members of the sect said.
While some women and children were taken from the shelters to the nearby San Angelo Coliseum, other women were allowed to return to the ranch — but only those who were childless or had children under the age of 5.
About three dozen of the women who returned to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch spoke out Monday, after 11 days in temporary shelters. They said in interviews that police surrounded them Monday and gave them a choice between returning home, or relocating to a women's shelter.
"It just feels like someone is trying to hurt us," said Paula, 38, who like other members of the sect declined to give her full name. "I do not understand how they can do this when they don't have a for sure knowledge that anyone has abused these children."
Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, said the move was a typical procedure taken by the agency.
"It is not the normal practice to allow parents to accompany the child when an abuse allegation is made," Gonzales said.
Brenda, a 37-year-old mother of two teenage boys, said the women were threatened with arrest if they resisted the court order. Previously, the women had been told they would stay with the children at least until Thursday, when a custody hearing is scheduled, she said.
A call to CPS for comment late Monday on the women's claims was not immediately returned.
CPS's closing of the shelters came a day after three mothers from the ranch petitioned Gov. Rick Perry to inspect the shelters to see firsthand how families were being treated. The women said the living conditions were cramped and that some of the children had become sick.
About 20 children were recovering from a mild case of chickenpox, said Dr. Sandra Guerra-Cantu with the state Health Department.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor did not believe the children were being housed in poor conditions at the West Texas fort.
"Let's be honest here, this is not the Ritz," Black said. But he called the accommodations "clean and neat."
CPS said officials have been planning the move for a week but that the coliseum was unavailable earlier. About two dozen teenage boys were moved to a facility outside San Angelo with the judge's permission, CPS said. The location was not released.
The state is accusing the sect of physically and sexually abusing the youngsters and wants to strip their parents of custody and place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption. The sheer size of the case was an obstacle.
An aerial view of the temple at the Yearn for Zion Ranch, wned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints near Eldorado, Texas. State investigators say they have discovered a bed inside thelygamist compound temple that was reserved for husbands -- often middle-aged men -- to have sex for the first time with their underage 'wives.
"Quite frankly, I'm not sure what we're going to do," Texas District Judge Barbara Walther said after a conference that included three to four dozen attorneys either representing or hoping to represent youngsters.
Brenda and others were critical of CPS, saying the agency misled them as to what was to happen Monday, weren't told why the children were removed from the compound and given inaccurate messages about opportunities to meet attorneys.
"We got to where we said, 'We cannot believe a word you say. We cannot trust you,'" she said.
Officials said the investigation began with a call from a young girl who has yet to be located by CPS. The women in the sect said they suspect she may be a bitter ex-member of the church.
The FLDS practice polygamy in arranged marriages, sometimes between underage girls and older men. The group has thousands of followers in two side-by-side towns in Arizona and Utah.
The church has repeatedly fought because of its lifestyle before. Men, women and children have been swept up in raids that took place in 1935, 1944 and 1953.
"It's been all through history, " said Brenda, the mother of two. "We were just here trying to live a peaceful, happy, sweet life. We don't understand why we can't do this freely."
Residential structures are seen along a road that leads to the main temple, top rear, on the grounds of the 'Yearning For Zion' Ranch, home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Eldorado, Texas, Tuesday, April 8, 2008. State troopers and child welfare officials have been searching the compound since Thursday, after a 16-year-old girl called a family violence shelter to report her 50-year-old husband was beating and raping her.
By JENNIFER DOBNER and MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writers 31 minutes ago
ELDORADO, Texas - Mothers separated from their children as part of a wide-ranging abuse investigation within a polygamist retreat accuse state officials of misleading them before taking their children into custody.
ADVERTISEMENT
click here
Authorities raided the sect's ranch more than a week ago in response to allegations that underage girls were forced to marry older men. Women and children from the secretive community were taken to a West Texas fort-turned-museum and a rodeo pavilion, but on Monday officials began separating women and some of their children without warning, members of the sect said.
While some women and children were taken from the shelters to the nearby San Angelo Coliseum, other women were allowed to return to the ranch — but only those who were childless or had children under the age of 5.
About three dozen of the women who returned to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch spoke out Monday, after 11 days in temporary shelters. They said in interviews that police surrounded them Monday and gave them a choice between returning home, or relocating to a women's shelter.
"It just feels like someone is trying to hurt us," said Paula, 38, who like other members of the sect declined to give her full name. "I do not understand how they can do this when they don't have a for sure knowledge that anyone has abused these children."
Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, said the move was a typical procedure taken by the agency.
"It is not the normal practice to allow parents to accompany the child when an abuse allegation is made," Gonzales said.
Brenda, a 37-year-old mother of two teenage boys, said the women were threatened with arrest if they resisted the court order. Previously, the women had been told they would stay with the children at least until Thursday, when a custody hearing is scheduled, she said.
A call to CPS for comment late Monday on the women's claims was not immediately returned.
CPS's closing of the shelters came a day after three mothers from the ranch petitioned Gov. Rick Perry to inspect the shelters to see firsthand how families were being treated. The women said the living conditions were cramped and that some of the children had become sick.
About 20 children were recovering from a mild case of chickenpox, said Dr. Sandra Guerra-Cantu with the state Health Department.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor did not believe the children were being housed in poor conditions at the West Texas fort.
"Let's be honest here, this is not the Ritz," Black said. But he called the accommodations "clean and neat."
CPS said officials have been planning the move for a week but that the coliseum was unavailable earlier. About two dozen teenage boys were moved to a facility outside San Angelo with the judge's permission, CPS said. The location was not released.
The state is accusing the sect of physically and sexually abusing the youngsters and wants to strip their parents of custody and place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption. The sheer size of the case was an obstacle.
An aerial view of the temple at the Yearn for Zion Ranch, wned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints near Eldorado, Texas. State investigators say they have discovered a bed inside thelygamist compound temple that was reserved for husbands -- often middle-aged men -- to have sex for the first time with their underage 'wives.
"Quite frankly, I'm not sure what we're going to do," Texas District Judge Barbara Walther said after a conference that included three to four dozen attorneys either representing or hoping to represent youngsters.
Brenda and others were critical of CPS, saying the agency misled them as to what was to happen Monday, weren't told why the children were removed from the compound and given inaccurate messages about opportunities to meet attorneys.
"We got to where we said, 'We cannot believe a word you say. We cannot trust you,'" she said.
Officials said the investigation began with a call from a young girl who has yet to be located by CPS. The women in the sect said they suspect she may be a bitter ex-member of the church.
The FLDS practice polygamy in arranged marriages, sometimes between underage girls and older men. The group has thousands of followers in two side-by-side towns in Arizona and Utah.
The church has repeatedly fought because of its lifestyle before. Men, women and children have been swept up in raids that took place in 1935, 1944 and 1953.
"It's been all through history, " said Brenda, the mother of two. "We were just here trying to live a peaceful, happy, sweet life. We don't understand why we can't do this freely."
Residential structures are seen along a road that leads to the main temple, top rear, on the grounds of the 'Yearning For Zion' Ranch, home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Eldorado, Texas, Tuesday, April 8, 2008. State troopers and child welfare officials have been searching the compound since Thursday, after a 16-year-old girl called a family violence shelter to report her 50-year-old husband was beating and raping her.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by SIN on -
Watch Slide Show with Commentary, here
I find it interesting that they made several arrests of men tampering with evidence and that they have not located/identified the girl who called in the complaint.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa on -
I dont think anyone called at all. I believe that this group of polygamists have been under investigation for a long time (years) and they just found reasonale cause or excuse to snatch up the children. In my heart I feel for the women and children. I feel they are all victims of the men involved. Their religion is not a crime but sleeping with,sexually and impregnating MINORS is and they need to investigate this. If the mothers of the young girls condoned it that makes them participants of the crimes against children who never had a choice or say if they wanted to be "wives" to older men, some old enough to be their grandfathers! *grabs a barf bag*
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Permalink Reply by SIN on
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If the women did condone it, its based on their upbringing - the FLDS could be viewed as its own culture when you get down to it. They separate themselves from the modern world, so they can reside in a time, when it was widely accepted.
That's the thing we have to consider, despite our modern view of consenting marital age - it wasn't until fairly recent that each state has updated their age of consent. Children could marry at any age, all they needed was parental consent. It wasn't 'special' cases, a lot of people married very young. My great-grandparents were married at ages 14(grandmother) and 15(grandfather) and were married for over 60 years when they passed.
I think what makes this situation 'alarming' is the young girls, being coupled with much older men - which gives it an aura of pedophilia. This is a social taboo despite the religious reasons they feel its 'right'.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa on
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My great-grandparents were married at ages 14(grandmother) and 15(grandfather) and were married for over 60 years when they passed.
This is wonderful and bless them both but what is an issue *shivers* is 11,12 year olds being coupled up with 30 plus year old men (even older) as you stated. As for the mothers condoneing it upbringing or not they are going against the laws of the land. practice your religion freely how ever if you break the law of the land you have to pay the consequences. There are many cults and sects that try to use religion as a shield and try to "umbrella" their actions against children along the lines of faith and it has to stop. By our laws that are supposed to protect children regardless if they feel its right its criminal in our society to have sex with minors. I dont care that they all wear frumpy prairie dresses and look plain and have bad hair styles..I do have issues with abuse of any kind Especially if its against childen. They are purposely kept from the outside world I think thats defunctive and brain washing. That disables them from ever being part of normal modern society and keeps them enslaved and controlled with no options of their own but to have a chosen Husband when they reach childbearing age. It makes my blood boil to think how the men in this sect have all the perks.
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Permalink Reply by SIN on
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Its all allegations. They have yet to prove that girls as young as 11, 12 or even 13 are coupled with older men. If they are found to be in such abusive situations, by all means prosecute these people to the fullest extent of the law. If the allegations are to be found false, then what? They would have disrupted these people's lives over nothing, a prank phone call.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa on
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I am all for the proof of any of the allegations. No one deserves to be falsely
accused. Thats why they are now in the process of doing DNA testing on all 400 some children from that compound. They will prove hopefuly who fathered whom and if the girls were under age according to texas state law they will be prosecuted. If the allegations prove to be false it will be a travesty to these kids being taken from their homes, but you know this whole thing (investigations) could take years and the children may grow older or grow up in foster homes before they get it all cleared up. In order to keep the kids from going home (social workers own feelings against these people) They may drag their feet in getting the kids returned. This happens with many christians who feel that pagans dont deserve thier children..a whole new can of worms.
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Permalink Reply by SIN on
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I think they have other agendas for the DNA testing, the precision of age can not be determined by DNA or Xrays. An expert reported on this, its a 'range' of age. The expert said that with DNA and Teeth and Bone x-rays they can only determine a range of age which varies too much to be precise. It's not a reliable way to determine age. That has already been established. So why proceed with the DNA testing knowing this information? They are trying to match kids to parents. The CPS officials said they were getting varying answers on parentage. That's because some children have up to 9 mothers. So when asked 'Who is your mother?' Children were providing a list of names. Some of the older children who knew specifically who their biological mothers were; gave the specifics to CPS workers. If you ask a 6 year old, you are going to get the list of names. Siblings were advising the CPS workers which children are biologically linked and which are spiritual parents. Yet, the CPS workers pushed that the information being provided was not reliable.
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Permalink Reply by SIN on
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I'd also like to add, the tax dollars it will cost to complete all lab work whether it be DNA, x-rays, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa on
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Hence the confusion. The DNA to know whom is biological parents of what children will also determine whom had sex with a minor who has given birth under the legal age. say "A" is 12 and "B" is 45. "A" is now 20 and has 5 children By "B" they can prosecute "B" for unlawful sexual relations with a minor. They are going that far back. Their agenda is to shut down this compound and put the parents in jail (if they can). Could it be partially because their religion isnt "acceptable" in our mainstream society by the fundamentalists groups. Im sure that is partially the reason .This is my understanding.
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Permalink Reply by SIN on
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What if 'A' is actually 19 but they think 'A' is 12 because of the age-range variation which can be anywhere from 5-7 years. Does 'B' get prosecuted based on this unreliable evidence? Even though 'A' is screaming - 'But I'm 19!' A lot of these young women look like children, but in reality they are not. They wear no make up, dress in modest attire with braided hair. I was watching a special no Niteline the other night. A women being interviewed looked very young, the newsreporter asked her how old she was. She said she was 43 years old. She looked like she was in her 20's. Is she a liar?
I'll be 35, I'm often accused of looking anywhere from 18-21 years old (good for me!) the aging process is dependent upon genes. My mother who is her in late 40's looks like she's in her late 20's to early 30's. We just have good genes.
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Permalink Reply by Tiffany aka Glittertits on -
They did locate that girl she was on the Dr. Phil show.
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