Combating polygamous crime: Utah officials say they can handle it (YFZ/fLDS Daily Thread - 5/2/08)

The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 05/02/2008 | Thomas Burr

[MizSterious]

Combating polygamous crime: Utah officials say they can handle it

Harry Reid calls for task force, but local officials say they have it covered

By Thomas Burr

The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:05/02/2008 02:47:25 AM MDT

WASHINGTON - The U.S. attorney for Utah and the head of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office said Thursday there should be no rush to establish a federal task force on polygamous crimes because existing partnerships already offer cross-agency cooperation.
    "What's also lost in this debate is let's not ignore that just announcing a task force doesn't give you probable cause to launch an investigation and it doesn't allow you to ignore constitutional protections," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman.
    Tim Fuhrman, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's field office in Salt Lake City, said local agencies seem to be satisfied with the efforts so far and a task force won't necessarily solve any problems.
    "In many of our investigations we work with state and local agencies" Fuhrman said. "I don't see the need to go beyond that working relationship that we have right now and that exists with those partners."
    Tolman and Fuhrman were responding to calls this week by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the attorneys general for Utah and Arizona to form a federal task force to pursue polygamy-related crimes. Reid jousted with Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Arizona's top law enforcement official, Terry Goddard, over actions the two states have taken, but all three agreed a task force was needed.

[MizSterious]

5/1 thread, with articles on:

FLDS doctor denies abuse, fLDS petitions court for return of children, denial of abuse of boys, commentary by Marci Hamilton (constitutional law expert), TX senator wants more info on YFZ, LDS response to situation, new evidence on abuse, NY Voodoo sex abuse case

4/30 thread, with articles on:

Investigations into fLDS government contracts, new compound built at 4 Corners area, strains on CPS capacity, Shurtleff & Reid agree to work together, interview with mothers in Amarillo, Colorado City fLDS watching events in Texas, NM removes 4 children from non-fLDS cult compound, sexual and physical injuries listed, proposed AZ bill would shield children of polygamists, Canadians want action on polygamists, fLDS denies child abuse, fLDS claims children have brittle bone disease, articles on brittle bone disease

4/29 thread with articles on:

"Lost" boys found, cult children statistics, more on WE documentary, sect doctors silent on abuse question, legal news and details, woman recalls life in sect, children's diet, Texans chip in to help, children at one shleter think they're all siblings, sect placement marriages "diabolical," sect threatens lawsuit, questions DNA tests might answer, teen mother gives birth (it's a boy)

4/28 thread with articles on:

Criminal charges urged for YFZ, new "prophet" film, debate over legalities of raid, Bountiful, BC fLDS group, reason in religious beliefs, former fLDS member shares insights, more on the Short Creek raid, documentary about group on WE TV.

4/27 thread with articles on:

Gene disorders in group, child custody processes, appeal to Gov. Perry, unusual way of life in YFZ, possibility of children held at YFZ whose parents were forced out, sheriff says authorities had spy inside sect.

4/26 thread with articles on:

Cost of care for the children of the sect, charges that two kids might be missing, how members of the sect dress, court rejects requests of mothers to stay with children, appeals court cancels hearing, Canadian involved in sect, culture shock for kids, oil drillers last laugh, possible involvement in human trafficking and drugs at Colorado City, Rep. Kay Granger's request to investigate financial ties to USG

4/25 thread with aritcles on:

Courts allowing state to place children in foster homes, legal challenges to the raid, beliefs on polygamy, protests against the raid and removal of children, Warren Jeff's appeal, portions of the Texas Family Code

4/24 thread with articles on:

Seized polygamous sect kids face tough adjustment, articles on how and where the children were placed, Carolyn Jessup on Canadian children possibly at the ranch, legal aid group challenges judge, interview with Benjamin Bistline, 40 women choose to go to safe house instead of back to cult, 25 girls claimed to be adults, now found to be minors.

Currently collecting informative links to include with the daily threads--should appear this weekend.

As always, for the sake of orderliness (and to prevent the pulling of threads and/or messages), let's do try to stay on topic and polite. You can't have a flame war if you don't take the bait.

____________________

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I do not run a pinglist, but you can freepmail Politicalmom and request that you be added to her FLDS Eldorado Legal Case Ping List.

[MizSterious]

Daily thread ping!

[greyfoxx39]

Flying Inman Ping

[najida]

Its the title supposed to be funny?
Cuz it is.

[metmom]

Like the fine job they’ve done in the past?

Glad I don’t live in Utah.

[MizSterious]

Calls for crackdown on polygamist towns in AZ, Utah

May 2, 2008

A Mohave County leader says it's time for Arizona to follow Texas' lead and act against the polygamist community of Colorado City. Meanwhile, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said local authorities are making progress in dealing with alleged abuse in Colorado City and that he's hopeful of getting help from the federal government.

Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, are headquarters of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church's leader, Warren Jeffs, is jailed in Kingman, awaiting trial on charges of arranging marriages of underaged girls to much older men.

Three weeks ago, Texas authorities raided a church compound near Eldorado, Texas, after a call purported to be from a 13-year-old girl, who said she had been forced to marry and was pregnant with an older man's child. Texas has taken custody of more than 400 children found at the compound named the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

Maricopa County Supervisor Buster Johnson says 60 percent of the underaged girls taken from the Texas compound are pregnant or have had children. He suggested similar numbers may exist in Colorado City.

``One way to put an end to all this is to go up to Colorado City and have all the women come out with their children and say, `Okay, this is your child, you have a birth certificate, looks like you were 13 when you had this child. We have a crime,' and then use DNA tests to show exactly who the perpetrators were," Johnson said.

Johnson said he sees a day coming when young girls who escape from the world of polygamy sue Mohave County and the State of Arizona for not protecting them. He said there is no defense.

Johnson said he believes the state has authority to go into Colorado City, but he doubts it has the political willpower. He said federal authorities can move in because the girls have been taken across state lines and even international lines, going into Mexico and Canada.

Excerpt. Read the rest at source: KTAR.com.

[MizSterious]

Sect children to begin home school

By David Kassabian
Friday, May 2, 2008

CORPUS CHRISTI — The children taken from a polygamist sect staying at a Corpus Christi emergency shelter will begin home schooling today.

Delma Trejo, director of The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth, said the children will receive instruction at the center from two certified teachers through the Calallen Independent School District. Children at the center must be enrolled in school per Texas law, and will be taught classes on par with their age and grade level.

The children continue to adjust to their new surroundings, Trejo said. She said she could not release the number of children from the compound staying at the center or other information about them, citing state privacy laws.

Excerpt. Read the rest at source: Corpus Christi Caller Times.

[MizSterious]

Ken Rodriguez: Burden of proof high in Eldorado case

Web Posted: 05/01/2008 11:38 PM CDT

San Antonio Express-News

Peter Sakai knows a thing or two about child welfare. As a former Children's Court judge, he tried thousands of abuse and neglect cases.

So I asked him for his take on the seizure of 464 children from a West Texas polygamist sect.

To understand his perspective, consider a case he heard this year as 225th District judge.

The state presented evidence that a brother and sister — both under 10 — suffered physical abuse from their father.

Though parents issued denials and lawyers disputed facts, Sakai found that abuse had occurred. But he did not give the state what it wanted: termination of parental rights.

Proving abuse is one thing. Making the case to terminate parental rights is another.

The state, Sakai explains, failed to show clear and convincing evidence — its burden of proof — that ending parental rights was best for the siblings.

As a result, Sakai says he placed the children in permanent foster care, and parents were allowed restricted visits.

Ending parental rights in day-to-day cases is often hard. In the polygamist sect case, it could be many times more difficult.

Excerpt. Read the rest at source: MYSA.com.

[Colofornian]

From the article in post #6: Maricopa County Supervisor Buster Johnson says 60 percent of the underaged girls taken from the Texas compound are pregnant or have had children. He suggested similar numbers may exist in Colorado City.

So...
...60% of girls of underaged girls have kids already born or are pregnant in Eldorado...[breakdown is about 50% are pregnant...% bumped higher by kids already born]
...and "similar numbers may exist in Colorado City."

What's Arizona been waiting for...a nice sunny day?

[MizSterious]

I thought so, too. Funny, maybe cynical. And we’re supposed to buy this?

[wideawake]

``One way to put an end to all this is to go up to Colorado City and have all the women come out with their children and say, `Okay, this is your child, you have a birth certificate, looks like you were 13 when you had this child. We have a crime,' and then use DNA tests to show exactly who the perpetrators were," Johnson said.

Johnson is dreaming.

These girls will behave just as they did at YFZ: disavow motherhood of the children. They won't acknowledge anything.

[Colofornian]

Its the title supposed to be funny? Cuz it is.

"Of course we can handle it. Just look at our 'crackdown' in our other-worldly colony, Kolob Heights. The number of polygamists we keep sending them every year is less than 10 percent of our membership."

[najida]

Sure,
and I’ve got a pot of gold buried in my back yard...
selling tickets to dig for it-— $100 a piece ;)

[MizSterious]

Feds are stymied in probes of FLDS

Tolman says office needs probable cause, not rumors

Copyright 2008 Deseret News

By Ben Winslow
Deseret News

Published: May 2, 2008

Federal authorities have been probing allegations of crimes involving the Fundamentalist LDS Church and its leader Warren Jeffs for years — but have been unable to develop enough probable cause to launch a full-scale investigation or bring charges.

"Those cases where you hear rumor and innuendo about child brides and corruption, we have to have reasonable suspicion to open an investigation," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said Thursday. "Beyond that, we have to have probable cause to even get search warrants and grand jury subpoenas. That we have not been able to establish on numerous occasions."

In an extensive interview with the Deseret News on Thursday, Tolman and Tim Fuhrman, the special agent-in-charge of the Salt Lake City office of the FBI, detailed their efforts to investigate crimes within the FLDS Church. They also spoke against the need for a federal task force on polygamy-related crimes, despite a push by the U.S. Senate majority leader and the Utah and Arizona attorneys general.

"The crimes that are being alleged or that there is suspicion, these are predominantly state crimes," Tolman said. "I think it's a rush to judgment to think that a federal task force is the answer."

Investigations

The U.S. Attorney for Utah confirmed to the Deseret News his office has looked at the FLDS Church for possible violations of Mafia-style racketeering and corruption laws.

"We remain open to pursuing that line of investigation," Tolman said. "Investigating a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charge is labor intensive, requires someone on the inside and has to be done with great patience. It's certainly not something that would result in a raid on the FLDS and all the members and families in the community. We still would have to provide probable cause on each and every individual that's the target of the investigation."

Right now, Tolman said that all his office has is suspicion and nothing more. Child abuse, rape and incest are all state-level crimes. So is bigamy.

"We have the ability to prosecute transferring or crossing state lines for purposes of sex, and we had a case a couple of years ago that we investigated," Tolman said. "When the young woman was interviewed, she indicated that no sex had ever occurred. At that point we're very limited outside some evidence to help us establish probable cause."

It is a problem their state-level counterparts can relate to.

"That's been the challenge with these closed polygamy groups. You can't infiltrate them," said Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy of the Utah Attorney General's Office. "Getting intelligence and information is difficult."

It isn't for lack of trying, authorities insist.

"We open and close more investigations than we prosecute," said Fuhrman.

Probable cause

In 2003, a joint state and federal task force was convened to look into crimes within all of Utah's polygamous groups.

"We asked them to come out and take a more comprehensive look at things," Torgensen said. "The agencies came back and said, 'We're not finding anything."'

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it did not develop enough for subpoenas, search warrants or indictments.

"The fact that everyone may think something's going on ... ask Elliot Ness how easy it was," Tolman said. "He knew, and he knew Al Capone was involved. It still took quite a bit. It takes a lot, and it takes a concerted effort. Even though everyone may be clamoring, it doesn't make for a federal case."

Tolman said they still need probable cause.

"No matter what, we still have to abide by the Constitution and our criminal procedure rules," he said.

An attorney acting as a spokesman for the FLDS Church declined to comment on Tolman's remarks but said he could appreciate their approach toward probable cause.

"That's a much more responsible approach than what's been taken in Texas with respect to the Constitution," said Rod Parker.

The raid on the YFZ Ranch began April 3, when someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah" called a family crisis shelter in San Angelo, Texas, saying she was pregnant and in an abusive polygamous marriage. Authorities are now investigating if the call was a hoax.

When Texas child welfare workers responded to the ranch, authorities said they found evidence of other abuse, including teenage mothers. That prompted a judge to order the removal of more than 450 children from the FLDS compound. They have since been placed in foster care homes across Texas.

Warren Jeffs

Federal prosecutors have leveled a charge against Warren Jeffs for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Jeffs, at the time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested outside Las Vegas during a traffic stop in 2006. Typically, when a fugitive is arrested, federal authorities dismiss the charge. Instead, Jeffs was indicted by a grand jury.

The 52-year-old FLDS leader was convicted last year in Utah of rape as an accomplice, accusing him of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. In Arizona, Jeffs is facing more charges accusing him of similar crimes.

On the final day of the police search of the YFZ Ranch, FBI agents executed a search warrant.

"We have consulted to some extent with my counterparts in Dallas," Fuhrman said. "A lot of it is education because of the experience we have had here."

The evidence seized from the Cadillac Escalade that Jeffs was riding in when he was arrested is the subject of legal battles over whether it is privileged communications between the polygamist leader and his followers. Fuhrman said the FBI has cooperated with other agencies, to the extent they could but added it is an ongoing investigation.

Task force?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is urging the U.S. Justice Department to create a federal task force to look into polygamy and related crimes.

The Nevada senator accused Utah and Arizona of doing nothing about crimes in polygamy and said he was "embarrassed" for them. That angered Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who penned a letter detailing prosecutions and victim outreach in polygamous communities. The two sides have now agreed to work together.

Beyond the rhetoric, Tolman said he did not believe a federal task force was necessary and said publicly announcing it inhibits any ability to actually investigate. Torgensen hopes they can still get federal input. "It wouldn't hurt to sit down one more time with our federal partners and walk through some of the potential issues," he said Thursday.

Tolman is willing to work with state authorities.

"We can't exceed what our authority is, and if people are clamoring for a federal task force as if that's the answer, I would argue that's red herring," he said. "What is really required is good, solid, investigative efforts on the part of state agencies ... added to that is whatever ability the FBI or others may be able to assist."

Source: Deseret News

[bonfire]

LOL!

[bonfire]

What a joke.

How about they start with BABYLAND?

[Politicalmom]

PING!!

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

[MizSterious]

Yeah, you have to wonder, don’t you? I think these people are intimidated by this group’s power and, when crossed, violence. I keep thinking back to the Jim Jones/Jonestown era. I had relatives living in San Francisco at a time when this creep was running rampant. From what they said, every cop and politician in town (and beyond) was running scared—and after the Jonestown massacre, probably with good reason. I see lots of similarities, but I do think this fLDS group is far, far more dangerous.

[CindyDawg]

I was thinking at first...is Utah going to deal with this...but towards the last, they are saying they will take care of it and do not want the Feds involved...I really don’t want Congress stepping in,either. As for Texas...we are doing ok...no one has been killed..no buildings burned down...

[MizSterious]

I read the article in complete disbelief. So this is the best the FBI can do? Our country’s in trouble.

Not only BABYLAND, there are just so many good places to start—but they DO have to start. It won’t be easy. In a closed society like this it’s hard to get a mole inside. However, they managed to do this with the mob, and with other groups. I suspect it’s more of a lack of will than anything else. But, if the people out here raise a big enough stink about YFZ, maybe they can somehow find the will to get this job done.

They’d better. What they have is an army of zombie-like, disposable people who view the rest of us as having no souls (so whatever they do to outsiders is ok), and who hate the government of this country enough to call their welfare scams “bleeding the beast.” Domestic terrorism is no less dangerous than the other kinds.

[MizSterious]

Just when you thought it could get no worse, click the link for a REALLY creepy article: Polygamist's Sons: Incest Will Bring Back The Line Of Jesus Christ.

[MizSterious]

Sect kids' religious needs make for problems

Web Posted: 05/02/2008 03:38 AM CDT

By Nancy Martinez and Abe Levy
Express-News

At Yearning for Zion Ranch, fundamentalist Mormon parents created a seamless religious environment for their children — free of government intrusion and modern influences.

More than 460 of those children now live under state supervision while investigators and the courts try to determine whether they were abused.

Their new homes are state-funded foster-care facilities run largely by faith-based nonprofits unfamiliar with the practices of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an enigmatic polygamous sect that broke away decades ago from the mainstream Mormon church.

The circumstances pose a rare challenge for child welfare officials as they try to provide for the children's religious needs.

This task is proving difficult; critics say it's impossible.

An FLDS core belief is that members must separate themselves from the secular, outside world. Further complicating matters is that the fathers make up the priesthood in charge of the community's spiritual development.

The state can't replicate either condition in the group homes, where the children are exposed to an array of non-FLDS staff and children and where the fathers are barred during the investigation.

Texas Child Protective Services officials say they're trying to be sensitive to the children's religious beliefs but ultimately the higher concern is their safety. They acknowledge their understanding of the FLDS is limited because the community is so isolated.

CPS issued a guide that recommends foster homes allow the children privacy to practice their religion, including time for prayer and singing of hymns, usually accompanied by piano, as is their practice. The state hasn't decided whether mainstream Mormon clergy should be made available.

“Every effort must be made to understand, respect and incorporate their religious beliefs and social practices as much as possible as the children are gradually introduced into mainstream culture,” CPS officials wrote in the guide, “Model for Care for Children from the Yearning for Zion Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints Sect.”

Patrick Crimmins, a CPS spokesman, said in an e-mail that the state is doing the best it can.

“We have already assured the court that the religious preferences of these children will be honored,” he said. “The needs of each one of these children are being met with care and compassion.”

But providing a suitable religious environment for the children is unattainable, says Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney and Catholic who represents the FLDS community.

“The state seems to think that giving them time to pray is all that they really need to do, but this religion is a lifestyle,” he said. “These are people who live their religion 24-7. It's not a go-to-church-once-a-week religion.”

Excerpt. Read the rest at source: MySA.com

[greyfoxx39]

Bring ‘em some prayer rugs. /sarc

[SouthTexas]

Combating polygamous crime: Utah officials say they can handle it

If you would have taken care of the issue, Texas wouldn't have all this mess now!

[MizSterious]

This quote told me just how clueless he is. Yes, it IS a lifestyle, of sorts, if you want to call it a "life," but the "lifestyle" has less to do with prayer and spirituality than it does just plain old power and sex.

[Colofornian]

From the article: "What's also lost in this debate is let's not ignore that just announcing a task force doesn't give you probable cause to launch an investigation and it doesn't allow you to ignore constitutional protections," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman.

What a difference a century and a quarter makes. The feds jailed 1300 Mormon men in the 1880s for polygamy. A quarter of a century before that (1856), the Republicans had labeled polygamy & slavery as the "twin relics of babarism." Yet in our day, although its concentrated practice in certain communities is overly overt, he concedes here that they haven't even yet to begin an investigation! ("doesn't give you cause to launch an investigation...")

[MizSterious]

Acute gutlessness—my diagnosis. (I once stayed in a motel...)

[bonfire]

My dad used to call people like this: “Gutless Wonders”

[stlnative]

May 2, 2008, 12:24AM
FLDS adults not suspected of abusing boys
State: Older boys may have molested younger ones

By TERRI LANGFORD and LISA SANDBERG
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News

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State authorities are investigating whether younger boys taken from a polygamist ranch in West Texas were sexually abused by older boys, not adults, a state official clarified Thursday.

Documents taken from the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado indicate that younger boys were molested by older boys at the ranch, said the official, who asked not to be identified. No other details about the alleged abuse were available.

~SNIP~

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5747898.html

[Froufrou]

Since you brought that up, who’s going to share in the restitution of the welfare dollars they’ve scammed in Texas? We have many more cases than AZ or UT! You know what it is, right? $1000 per woman/case. Just the TANF, not including food stamps.

[ansel12]

"If you would have taken care of the issue, Texas wouldn't have all this mess now!"

Texas, having to clean up Utah's latter day taints

[SouthTexas]

Occasionally I can agree with some of the issues in this case. ;)

Don't think it's been investigated enough to say where the money is coming from, Texas or previous residences.

[Pebcak]

Amen to that.

Re: The article about the feds not having probable cause. Then what the heck was the FBI doing at the YFZ?
I swear the ‘deserter’ is a propaganda rag.

Not that they need my help, but I guess they could start with the Mann act, and after that call in Immigration.

[MizSterious]

'Bishop's Record' lists families of the YFZ Ranch

Staff report

Originally published 01:42 p.m., May 2, 2008
Updated 01:42 p.m., May 2, 2008

The Bishop's Record, found in a safe on the YFZ Ranch, is a record of families whose fathers lived on the Schleicher County polygamist compound, according to court testimony last month.

The record, released Thursday by Tom Green County District Court, contains names, ages and locations for many of the men, women and children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints living at the ranch.

Most of those listed are said to live at "R17," a code name for the YFZ Ranch.

"Short Creek" is a former name for the twin FLDS-controlled cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

The state of Texas introduced the document as part of its evidence during a child custody hearing involving the more than 400 FLDS children removed from the YFZ ranch as part of an investigation into a "pervasive pattern and practice" of forced "marriages" and sexual abuse.

As of today, 464 children are in the state's custody, including a boy born this week.

Source: GOSanAngelo

[MizSterious]

Dr. Phil: FLDS principles 'imminent danger' for children

<

(CNN) -- Dr. Phil McGraw joined "Larry King Live" on Thursday where he talked about some of the stories in the news. He touched on topics ranging from the removal of children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sect to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the Austrian family affected by incest.

~~SNIP!~~

King: Let's turn to the polygamy matter. If the allegations of abuse are true, do you see any problem with all of these children in foster care?

McGraw: I see huge problems with it, Larry. I think we're in a situation here that there is not necessarily a good option. Now, think about this: there are only a certain number of these children that were believed to be at risk. But, yet, all of the children were taken out and put into foster care.

Now, I've said this before, the statistics tell us that 73 percent of all children that go into foster care wind up on the street or in jail. So, that means that if you apply those numbers to these 416 children, 304 of them would be predicted to wind up on the street or in jail. Is that a good alternative? And I don't think it is. And I don't think that it makes sense to take all of the children out of this situation without doing a case-by-case study, to see which one of these children are at risk and which ones are not.

Now, clearly, the principles that seem to govern the FLDS would be imminent danger for these children. But somehow or another, you have to figure a way to train these people, create an open door policy, get monitoring, get access and try to get these children back with their biological mothers, but with protection, and monitoring.

King: What do you think of the adult mothers?

McGraw: Well, at this point, so many of these mothers, Larry, grew up in this religious sect. So, they know nothing else. I mean, people say they look strange, because they walk around in kind of "Little House on the Prairie" type garb. They have unusual hair. They speak in very monotonic, scripted ways. This is all these women know. So many of them were born in this sect. All they have been exposed to are the forces, values and treatment that is indigenous to this sect. So, they don't know anything else. And they have been told that you, me, everybody on the outside world constitutes evil threats. So, at this point, I'm sure they're in a state of confusion. But it doesn't mean that they can't learn, that they can't be willing to adhere to some other guidelines. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. But some dialogue has to take place here.

Excerpt. Read the rest at source: CNN.Com.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Bishop’s Record listing families of the YFZ Ranch

http://web.gosanangelo.com/pdf/BishopsList.pdf

[MizSterious]

Texas authorities cancel warrant for man accused of abusing FLDS girl

By Nate Carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:05/02/2008 03:19:02 PM MDT

Posted: 1:49 PM- AMARILLO, Texas -- Texas authorities have canceled the arrest warrant for the Arizona man who had been suspected of physically and sexually abusing a teenage girl -- allegations that launched last month's raid on an FLDS ranch in Eldorado.
    Law enforcement did not find the teenage girl or Barlow at the YFZ Ranch, owned by the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
    The man named in the warrant, Dale E. Barlow, was never arrested and denied knowing the girl. Officials have not located or idenified her.
    A spokesman for the Texas Department of Safety said he could not elaborate on why the warrant was canceled.
    "The bottom line is the warrant is no longer active," said Tom Vinger.
    Vinger said he did not know when the cancellation occurred. He would not comment on whether the cancellation confirms the girl's calls for help were a hoax.
    "We're still investigating that," he said.
    The warrant had alleged a 16-year-old girl called a San Angelo family violence shelter to report she was married to Barlow, 50, and he was abusing her. The allegations were the basis for a search and arrest warrant executed April 3 on the FLDS ranch.
    Two weeks later, Texas authorities announced they were investigating a Colorado Springs, Colo., woman suspected of making the phone calls claiming abuse. The woman has no known connection to the FLDS and a history of making phone calls falsely claiming abuse.
    But once on the ranch, authorities said, child welfare workers found children who were abused or at risk for abuse, and more than 460 children were taken into custody. They are now in state facilities throughout Texas.
    Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the FLDS, said, "The cancellation of this warrant is just one more piece of evidence that this call was a hoax and the state of Texas did not properly check this out before they raided the ranch."
    Parker acknowledged the cancellation of the warrant would have little legal significance to the childrens' pending custody cases.
    Barlow had denied knowing the girl or having visited Texas in 30 years. He continued living at his home in Colorado City, Ariz. Texas Rangers traveled to St. George to interview Barlow but did not arrest him.

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune.

My comment: Bear in mind, this does not negate the warrants and the evidence found in the search.

[MizSterious]

Protesters use NBA playoff game to raise awareness to FLDS plight in Texas

By Jason Bergreen
The Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated: 04/24/2008 09:44:03 PM MDT

Posted: 9:42 PM- About 50 protesters holding signs outside EnergySolutions Arena demanded that Texas authorities reunite FLDS mothers with their children before last night's basketball playoff game between the Jazz and the Houston Rockets.
    Men, women and children stood on the corner of South Temple and 300 West about 7:30 p.m. waving signs that read, "Let the children go home," "Stop the Texas Holocaust," "Liberty and justice for all," and "Shame on Texas."
    Bonnie Whitmill passed a petition around gathering signatures from supporters going to the game. "Why should everybody get freedom of religion but the fundamentalists?" she asked.
    Whitmill, who is a member of the FLDS church, said they chose the arena as a place to protest because the Houston Rockets were in town. "The Jazz is going to waste all over Texas and send them home crying," she added.

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune.

[Pebcak]

I just spent some time looking at it and the Court order for DNA.

Looking at the locations of the wives and children, one finds, ‘house of hiding,’ ‘elsewhere,’ and Idaho. That is in addition to Short Creek.

Really freaky. I guess from now on we call the ranch R17.

[MizSterious]

From the article in #38: "About 50 protesters holding signs outside EnergySolutions Arena demanded that Texas authorities reunite FLDS mothers with their children before last night's basketball playoff game between the Jazz and the Houston Rockets."

I just can't resist commenting--wonder what their Freeper names are? ;)

[Pebcak]

LOL. Don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

[MizSterious]

Letter: FLDS members' human rights being violated

Posted: May 2, 2008 04:42 PM

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- In a letter obtained by KXAN Austin News, members of the West Texas polygamist sect said their human rights are being violated.

The letter to Gov. Rick Perry was written by Willie Jessop on behalf of the group Women and Children of YFZ.

The letter to Perry criticizes Child Protective Services and calls the allegations and case against the group "the most horrific violations of human rights that have ever been allowed on American soil."

Perry continued not to comment on letters written to him.

CPS officials recently announced they felt confident in their decision to remove the children. In addition to the girls, the agency will investigate possible sexual abuse of young boys.

The next hearing is June 5. CPS will determine then whether the children should remain in state custody.

Source: KXAN.com

[MizSterious]

Law Professor Thinks State Correct in Removing Children from Polygamous Compound

Jennifer Heathcock

May 2, 2008 - 5:50PM

Some members of the polygamous sect in West Texas claim the state went too far in removing hundreds of children from the group's compound.

All 463 children were taken and placed in foster care. Investigators say more than half of the underage girls are pregnant.

But a law professor says there is no question the state was correct in removing the children.

Gerald Treece is an Associate Dean at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. His speech to lawyers and judges in Jefferson County touched on more than the legal system.

"Education done correctly solves many social problems," says Gerald Treece, a professor and Associate Dean at the South Texas College of Law.

Many family court judges and prosecutors say the mistreatment of children has become a growing social problem.

Child Protective Services says it removed hundreds of children from the polygamous sect's compound in West Texas because it had evidence children were sexually abused.

"Texans don't like government messing around with religion. But we drew the line when it comes to abuse of children, sexual abuse of children cannot be justified under anybody's religious beliefs," says Treece.

Some members of the sect deny their religious beliefs include sexual abuse of children.

But after the raid on the compound near San Angelo about one month ago, investigators say they've learned dozens of the children and young teenage girls are pregnant. One just gave birth.

"I've never heard anybody say you can have sex with a 12 or 13 year old girl under the name of religion. You almost have to build a compound around it to keep that kind of crazy idea in," says Treece.

Parents have lined up outside courthouses in Austin trying to fight to regain custody. But there are still more than 400 children the state is testing to determine their ages and whether they were abused.

"There's no free expression of religion argument that allows sexual abuse of teen girls," says Treece.

Treece says in 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled sexual abuse of children was not constitutional, and he says that is the guiding principal in the case involving the children from the compound

Source: KDFM News.

[MizSterious]

Ping to #43, which might interest you.

[Tennessee Nana]

My dad used to call people like this: “Gutless Wonders”
________________________________________________

Mine used that term too

:)

[pnz1]

What does it mean when some of the locations say “house of hiding”?

[greyfoxx39]

Ping to post 43.

Law Professor Thinks State Correct in Removing Children from Polygamous Compound

[pandoraou812]

I certainly agree with the Professor

Oh & I want to add that I think Dr Phil is a kook too along with his pal Oprah.

[metmom]

Really freaky. I guess from now on we call the ranch R17.

R17? Ranch 17? I wonder where ranches 1-16 are?

[colorcountry]

Widstoe, Utah will be one of the Ranches, I’ve known about its existence for 45 years. I’m always surprised that nobody else does.