Officials: 31 of 53 girls from [FLDS] sect ranch have been pregnant (via. Drudge)

Associated Press ^ | April 28, 2008 | Michelle Roberts

[Zakeet]

Texas child welfare officials say more than half the teen girls swept into state custody from a polygamist sect's ranch have been pregnant.

Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar says 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were living on the ranch in Eldorado. Of that group, 31 already have children or are pregnant.

[napscoordinator]

For those who were upset with the state of Texas’ action and demanded proof...well there it is. Texas has clearly made the right decision to get those kids out of that evil compound immediately! Thank God that someone had the sense to look into this case.

[MEGoody]

Oh, but gee, we should never have taken the kids away from their parents.

:::sarc tag in case it is needed:::

[AppyPappy]

Gee I wonder how that happened?

[livius]

When she was a freshman in high school, my daughter had a friend who was Albanian Muslim, and the girl was desperately unhappy because she knew that as soon as she was 15, she would be forced to marry one of her father’s 50-60 year old friends (her older sister had been sent back to Albania to become one of the wives of an old man there when she was 15). My daughter’s friend disappeared from school that very year. I don’t know if she was married, shipped off to Albania to be married there, or if she got up her nerve and ran away.

Think what life must have been like for these girls.

[rightazrain]

Ping!

[greyfoxx39]

Bombshell PING!

[bonfire]

We could start with a certain Joseph Smith and work forwards.....

[ejonesie22]

And yet we have a few (very few thankfully) that are defending these folks (perverts)...

Damn, just damn...

Never thought I would say this but thank God for the state...

[mnehrling]

Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar says 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were living on the ranch in Eldorado. Of that group, 31 already have children or are pregnant.

According to Texas law, it is aggravated sexual assault if the father of the 17 year old girl's child is more than three years difference in age of her. The age difference doesn't matter for he 14-16 year olds, it is aggravated sexual assault in those cases, period. This has nothing to do with their religion or polygamist beliefs.

[bonfire]

Poor baby girls.

[ejonesie22]

Now now, lets be nice, we don't want to upset the Romney fans...

[bonfire]

To heck with the Romney fans. Facts are facts no matter how some like to hide their heads in the sand.

:)

[TheDon]

How many of the boys were pregnant?

[mnehrling]

This really has nothing to do with Romney or Mormons in general, it is aggravated sexual assault of a minor. You can take all church/cult affiliation out of it and the crime would still exist.

[R. Scott]

Too bad it didn’t give the ages of the 31 pregnant females. Were they the oldest of the 53?

[ansel12]

"Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar says 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were living on the ranch in Eldorado. Of that group, 31 already have children or are pregnant."

31 girls between 14 and 17 are pregnant or already have children, this would explain those bizarre interviews with the adult women where they were so evasive and would not answer questions.

[R. Scott]

Right. Who needs that bothersome little 4th Amendment.

[twigs]

These people have nothing to do with Romney or his supporters.

[bonfire]

“not that I’m aware....”

[Godzilla]

How many of the boys were pregnant?

Well, we see the polygamy defenders are here.

[Mr. Quarterpanel]

....It’s even worse than I thought......

[Ready4Freddy]

And I'd bet not one of them had an abortion...

Wonder why they didn't examine any girls under 14.

31 of 53 girls from [FLDS] sect ranch have been pregnant

[ZULU]

Let the FLDS defenders defend THIS!!

[ejonesie22]

Yes, but in this case the cult influence creates the environment where it is “acceptable” and protected until exposed. In this case it cannot be entirely separated.

While the courts will prosecute the legal aspects, we as a whole will have to deal with the philosophical ones, the ones where we have allowed a “religion” to cover the most despicable of crimes...

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

How many of the boys were pregnant?

IIRC, there weren't any boys there. The only males were dirty old men.

[SMARTY]

Under 17 is NOT the age of consent. I figured the gov. knew pretty much for certain about this before they acted on warrants to go in there. It was certain to ( and did ) draw national attention and so it should. THOSE men broke the law and I don't care what anyone says.

[ejonesie22]

Bingo...

[jazusamo]

How many of the boys were pregnant?

Without a doubt I can say none.

How many have been raped?

[TheDon]

Annie Leibovitz, the celebrity photographer, has been accused of "manipulating" a 15-year-old pop star into posing semi-naked for Vanity Fair magazine.

Exclusively for Vanity Fair by Annie Liebovitz. The June issue of Vanity Fair hits newstands on May 1st Miley Cyrus, a teen idol and star of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, was pictured apparently topless, with a satin bedsheet protecting her modesty.

....

But Vanity Fair defended its position, saying: "Miley’s parents and/or minders were on the set all day. Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley."

We need the Texas CPS out here in California!

[Colofornian]

Gee I wonder how that happened?

George Bush's fault. (You see, Bush is from Texas and has obvious connections...it was the state of Texas' fault for not teaching them proper sexual "literacy" to better hide statutory rape, etc.)

[Politicalmom]

PING!!

FReepmail to be added to the FLDS Eldorado Legal Case Ping List

[bonfire]

I see they are already here.

[TheDon]

Yuck! Maybe the Texas CPS will supply those numbers soon... Ewwwwww!

[mnehrling]

Yes, but in this case the cult influence creates the environment where it is “acceptable” and protected until exposed.

Can't argue with that. It also creates a case where people try to obfuscate the issue by discussing the religion instead of the fact it was, under Texas law, aggravated sexual assault.

[theDentist]

‘Course, if they were inner-city girls, the Protective Services group would be jumping thru hoops to make sure children were re-united with mothers, and a home environment were made available.

[infantrywhooah]

Stories eminating from this den of iniquity get more depraved and disgusting with every passing day.

[wolfcreek]

I wouldn't say they were *defending*. More like possessed by an irrational (or not) fear of the Government agencies.

I respect both sides of this argument because I'm a Libra.

[r9etb]

This has nothing to do with their religion or polygamist beliefs.

Hm. I know what you're saying, but I think it's probably not possible to cleanly separate the crime from the religion; nor the law enforcement from looking askance at this particular religion.

I think that pretty much any community based on polygamy is going to be a target of closer scrutiny precisely because the culture is, in many respects, based on breeding new wives for the leaders of the community.

And given that the facts of this case are in line with a pretty well-established pattern, I think they should be scrutinized more closely -- both for the sake of the girls who are being impregnated at very young ages; and for the sake of the boys who are cast out of the community to ensure a "proper" male/female ratio.

[Politicalmom]

“Lower rate of teen pregnancy than the state of Texas” my EYE!!

[ansel12]

“not that I’m aware....”

LOL

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Ages not being mentioned struck me as odd as well.

[TheDon]

Well, we see the polygamy defenders are here.

We love polygamy here in California. And by the ratings, so does the rest of the US. The FLDS made the mistake of not waiting until the girls were 18. And they are going to pay!

[greyfoxx39]

You’ll try anything, won’t you Don? Pathetic.

[Vaquero]

the FLDS apologists here at FR will soon be ready to attack all you religious intolerants....be forewarned.

[jazusamo]

Yes, it is Yuck and it may be none but if it did happen I would hope CPS finds it out.

[MindBender26]

Yearning For Zion Ranch Happiness Kit

One Tree
One Rope
One Adult Member Who Let This Happen.

Some assembly required.

Seriously. there is no greater abuse than organized abuse of children, and those who see it and remain silent.

[Jack Black]

This really has nothing to do with Romney or Mormons in general, it is aggravated sexual assault of a minor. You can take all church/cult affiliation out of it and the crime would still exist.

It has everything to do with the beliefs of the cult, the FLDS sect. This isn't garden variety molestation, where a bad uncle gets on a 13 year old when the parents are away. This isn't even the culture of coverup that the Catholic Church engaged in vis-a-vis homosexual molesting priests in the 1970s and 80s. This is a group that BELIEVES it is their sacred duty to molest these children!

Seeing as they claim THEY are practicing the true (ie: fundamental) version of Mormonism it is reasonable for people to wonder: is that true. The answer that the Mormons renounced polygamy in order to get statehood is not a satisfactory answer. Did they repudiate the practice? Or is it simply that they believe in following the laws, but were the laws changed (as they maybe in the future, look at the anti-sodomy laws) they would have no problem with polygamy being re-introduced? Romney's famous "faith" speech was not satisfying because while standing up for the "faith of my fathers" he avoided discussion of his grandfathers polygamy.

In an election season where we've seen one front runners' campaign derailed because of his odd religious beliefs, it is our good fortune that Romney isn't our nominee at this point. It is hard for me to believe this wouldn't be focusing as much or more uncomfortable attention on Mitt and his religion than the Wright comments have on Obama. With identical results - dwindling of support outside the fanatic base.

I'll go so far as to say this is probably going to cost Mitt as serious shot at the VP slot this year.

It might be unfair, but it's reality. Too bad because Mitt is a pretty damn smart guy we could use.

[ejonesie22]

You are very correct, and that fact has saved the day for these children. There is a reason these laws are on the books.

[Godzilla]

We love polygamy here in California. And by the ratings, so does the rest of the US. The FLDS made the mistake of not waiting until the girls were 18. And they are going to pay!

Called adultery donnie boy. If you have a porn addiction, there are places that can help donnie - talk to your bishop about it.