Posted on 04/09/2008 4:41:39 PM PDT by JRochelle
SAN ANGELO, Tex. - Adult FLDS men were having sex with underage brides inside the massive limestone temple at the polygamous sect's Texas ranch, a confidential informant told authorities.
According to a request for a search warrant unsealed today by a Texas judge, Schliecher County Sheriff David Doran has been working with a confidential informant who has shared information about the ranch over several years. On Saturday, as a sweeping raid was underway at the YFZ Ranch, the informant spoke to Doran and made the allegation about the temple, the court filing said.
The affidavit was from Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long, who reported being at the ranch and observing a bed inside the temple with disturbed linens and a long hair, apparently from a female.
The document was filed in support of the state's request for a second warrant to search the ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That warrant was signed Sunday; an earlier warrant had been signed on Thursday, the day the raid began.
Since then, authorities have removed 419 children, accompanied by 139 women.
Tom Green County District Judge Barbara Walther unsealed the documents during a hearing today.
She also ruled three members of the sect have the legal right to challenge the massive search, and said she will appoint a special master to review documents and computer hard drives seized from the sect's ranch. The special master will determine what material is privileged and protected as strictly religious.
Gerald Goldstein, who is representing sect members, estimated that hundreds of boxes of documents have been taken from the YFZ Ranch.
"We ought to be able to cull out those that are sacred," he told the judge. "If it relates to the children, they get it. If it doesn't, they don't."
Police can seize any documents related to family lineage, he acknowledged.
Allison Palmer, assistant district attorney for the 51st District, argued that sect members did not have legal standing, or should not be allowed to challenge the search. No arrests have been made, she pointed out.
But the judge disagreed, granting legal standing to three men:
- Lyle Jeffs, representing himself and the FLDS church. He is the bishop of the FLDS church's Short Creek stake on the border of Utah and Arizona and the father of two children taken from the ranch.
- Ranch overseer Merrill Jessop, who is also is a presiding elder in the sect.
- Isaac Jeffs, a brother of the sect's leader.
Goldstein said the men are no longer seeking to quash two state search warrants used so far by officials, conceding the point is moot because a federal search warrant has been issued.
ping
Anonymous sources telling of sex with young girls, a call to the state from a 16 year old girl yet to be located.
This is starting to sound like Waco all over again, where nothing they were accused of was ever substantiated....but way after everybody at the facility were DEAD.....
Anonymous sources telling of sex with young girls, a call to the state from a 16 year old girl yet to be located.
This is starting to sound like Waco all over again, where nothing they were accused of was ever substantiated....but way after everybody at the facility were DEAD.....
You can’t be serious.
Pregnancy is clear evidence of sex with young girls.
What other proof do you need?
Ping
So the pregnant 15 year olds aren’t proof of anything?
Wow.
DNA tests for all. Sort out the parentage.
I have heard that there are lot of girls but hardly any boys being held in protective custody. if this is true, they need to investigate what happened to the boys. I have heard that most are kicked out at an early age so the old men can have young brides.
As a wise man once said, "The only person dumber than someone who represents himself is his client."
Something to that effect.
Sick
You haven’t been here long, have you n00b? Try reading the article attached to the thread you are posting on.
Hope the Doc sees this, also. I have problems with this part of the story:
“working with a confidential informant who has shared information about the ranch over several years”
These crimes were ongoing over several years?
***As a wise man once said, “The only person dumber than someone who represents himself is his client.”
Something to that effect.***
Close. I believe it is ...”The person who wishes to be his own lawyer has a client for a fool”.
I agree!
I recently read “Escape” by Carolyn Jessop, who was a plural wife of Merrill Jessop, who was mentined in this story. She was “married” to him when she was a teenager and he was about 50. IIRC, she was Wife # 4. She was raised in FLDS sect, and essentially brainwashed to believe that any disobedience to her husband or to FLDS authorities was a sure ticket to hell. She eventually began to think for herself and concluded that she was trapped in a cult, and began looking for a means to escape. She finally made it out, and took her children with her. Her story is very compelling, and her ability to overcome adversity is amazing.
The affidavit was from Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long...
This is nothing like Waco, The Texas Rangers are the Best Law Enforcement agency in the world. There are only 134 Texas Rangers, they are the best of the best and extremely selective of who joins their ranks. They only investigate high profile cases and corruption of political offices and other law enforcement agencies. They are beyond reproach.
No wonder the Temple is SECRET.
Yeah thats it.
Only I think it is -fool for a client.
:)
Just where do you get "Waco II" from HD1200?
The State of Texas and the Texas Rangers handled this just fine.
Little girls who were being sexually abused were rescued.
If you have a problem with this, I question your sanity.
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