Polygamist Sect's Cell Phones Confiscated

Authorities Confiscate Phones From FLDS Women, Kids; Lawyers Fear Witness Tampering

(AP)  State officials on Sunday enforced a judge's order and confiscated the cell phones of the women and children removed from a polygamous sect's private ranch in West Texas.

Attorneys ad litem for 18 girls from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who are in the legal custody of the state had sought the order, said Marissa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Texas Child Protective Services.

The attorneys reasoned that cutting off communications would "prevent the possible tampering of witnesses," Gonzalez said, reading from the court document.

It was unclear how many phones were taken Sunday. Gonzalez did not know if the document could be released.

Some 416 youngsters were rounded up and placed in temporary custody 11 days ago, after a domestic violence hot line recorded a complaint from a 16-year-old girl who said she was physically and sexually abused by her 50-year-old husband.

Affidavits filed by child protection workers said that, upon investigating, they found a pattern of abuse existed at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, about 45 miles south of San Angelo.

The 1,700-acre fenced ranch, a former game preserve, was bought by the FLDS in 2003.

A number of large dormitory-style homes have been built, along with a small medical facility, a cheese factory, a rock quarry, water treatment plant and a towering, white limestone temple.

The children are currently being housed in San Angelo's historic Fort Concho and at the nearby Wells Fargo pavilion. About 140 women from the ranch are also with the children, although they are not in state custody.

On Saturday, five FLDS women staying at the fort told the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News the temporary shelter is cramped - cots, cribs and playpens are lined up side-by-side - and that many of the children are frightened.

Authorities said they have not yet located the teenage mother whose call for help triggered the raid at the ranch.

Texas authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the alleged husband, a man identified as Dale Barlow (left) of Colorado City, Arizona, one of two communities on the Utah-Arizona border that have been the traditional home-base of the church.

Texas Rangers met with Barlow and his probation officer in St. George, Utah, on Saturday, but did not arrest him.

Barlow is serving three years probation after pleading no contest to sexual misconduct with a minor - a teenager to whom he was spiritually married.

"As for Mr. Barlow, we are continuing to look into whether we have a warrant on the correct person," said Tela Mange, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Mange said it would be difficult to know the suspect's correct identity until they talk with the 16-year-old girl.

The secretive sect practices polygamy in arranged marriage that often pair underage girls with older men. The faith believes the practice will brings glorification in heaven.

A judge will decide this week if the children will remain in state custody or return to their families. Hearings are scheduled for Monday and Thursday.

[cantshutup]

this is a farce...the mysterious phone call from some girl is an excuse for the government to raid and destroy lives...why would the government do that? because they''re going to do it to the rest of us...who cares if some fanatical weirdos are subjected to this violation of their rights? if someone is suspected of R APE and ABUSE, why not follow normal legal recourse?...why raid their home in armoured military weaponry to "rescue" supposed victims? i mean aren''t the children in just as much danger out here, in "regular" society??? just last week in my town a multiply convicted felon r aped, so domized and choked a 7 yr old girl, then he set the house on fire...the little child played dead and survived...so to speak...why this and not that? why them and not her? where are the victims in texas? where is the abuser? no body was storming Nichols St. at the house where the 7 yr old in my town was r ap ed so do mized and nearly killed by her abuser...

[foolprophet]

I''''m not saying that I agree with their practices...I don''''t. My opinion (or anyone elses) is irrelevant on that point...These people have a RIGHT as Americans to worship as they see fit. It''''s the cornerstone on which of these United States'''' were founded.

And that right is upheld as long as that worship does not include breaking any Federal, State or Local Laws.

How can you be so dense? The case here is not their "religon" but their practices of multiple marriages, pedophilia, child abuse, abusing the welfare system and the list grows. Would God tell these people to do all this? Only if he decided to break his own 10 commandments. If one were religious one could say the devil has had more than his hand on these sick, sick people.

[moonshadow22]

Does anyone remember the initial concept on which this country was founded? Why did folks initially flock to the "New World"? What is the first ammendment to the US constitution guarantee? FREEDOM OF RELIGION!!!

I''m not saying that I agree with their practices...I don''t. My opinion (or anyone elses) is irrelevant on that point...These people have a RIGHT as Americans to worship as they see fit. It''s the cornerstone on which of these United States'' were founded.

"I don''t agree with a single word that you have said, but I would give my life to defend your right to say it." (usually attributed to Alexander Hamilton at the Constitutional Congress, 1782)

[nkl66]

milesbrown49 think about what you wrote... "don''''t agree with their religion, but I am American and do belive they have the right to practice is as long as they are within the laws".

They are breaking the law. 1. They have multiple wives and 2. They are having *** with under age girls.

Think about it... law''s broken. Not to metion a lot of brainwashing.

[jsilver2th]

This cult expels men and reassigns their children and wives to other men like monopoly pieces- so who are they to talk about ripping children out of the arms of their parents?

When the cult does this there is no appeal to the legal system for abusing the father''s rights. The people that think this is a pro or anti feminist debate completely miss the mark.

Think about it. The boys are slaves until they get old enough to want to be adults and then they expel most of them- they have to- otherwise how can they have multiple wives...

It''s not every man had multiple wives- it''s certain men have all the wives...

They throw the boys out in the streets so that they can have it their way- this isn''t family values- it''s slavery.

[taoman2]

BRAIN WASH, RAPE, SEXUAL SLAVARY, and INCEST then BRAIN WASH, RAPE,*** SLAVARY, AND INCEST..... The cycles go round for years. Why the government turn their blind eyes to these cults. We need a new law that stop all this stupid nonsense and horrific crimes

[bdrlnt4rl]

milesbrown49

someone assumed me a female.

nothing wrong with being proud of my accomplishments. i never called her a trophy wife, i called her a good wife, nice wife, wonderful wife, all of it. she treats me great, i love her wonderfully!

her cousins, or family, had a hard time accepting me, but i proved my love for her and it is getting better. 2 different cultures combining is difficult, a challenge, but i would not trade for anything.


this article is not about me. i was just making my statement to a different statement, just like you made a statement toward me and now i am making a statement toward you. it is the circle you enter when coming into a message board.

[rillifane]

its really quite scary how easy it is to ignore the constitution, the rule of law and basic civil rights as long as the group being abused can be characterized as different. This judge is a little fascist pig.

[cattlekate]

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.aspx?storyid=89876

OMG! They are here too!

Will the sheriff of Mancos, Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee, be as brave as the one in ElDorado?

[cattlekate]

I say good for Texas- its about time- 4 years of informant information and the local sheriff sits on his rump- run that one out of office and anyone that caters to these creeps.
Posted by jsilver2th at 09:17 PM : Apr 13, 2008

I agree!

It would be nice is the sheriffs of Hilsdale and Colorado City followed suit, but the FLDS have so infiltrated their ranks only the states of Arizona and Utah can step in.

And they are too timid. We need that Phoenix sheriff to bring rescue to the brainwashed child brides.

My suspicion about the four-year time lag is that it took that amount of time to determine that a little child bride girl turned fourteen.

Really.

I think the informant was a male, a Soon-To-Be Lost Boy, who argued his sister was eight, or ten, but the authorites, without proper birth certificates, had to wait until the girl was of puberty age, before they could prove rape of a fourteen-year-old.

And I still have not gotten a satisfactory answer to my questions about welfare.

Are these FLDS super-birthin'' single mums & children receiving my tax dollars?

[milesbrown49]

bdrlnt4rl: That would have been nice until you proved you have a trophy. Why couldn''t you just have a nice wife? Why did she have to be white? Why did you have to bring in your cousins in less great circumstances? Doesn''t your wife have cousins too? Black people are not elite to the loser cycle, america has a even amount of poor white people too. This was supose to be about those children being taken away and now here you are brandishing your trophy!!!

[bdrlnt4rl]

jsilver2th

you said it!



cpaide

guess you think i am female. 6''5 black man with an education and a very nice job, living in a nice nighborhood, who enjoys golf, married to a white woman who is ever so good!

i beleive in pulling up your pants, getting off drugs, not living off the government, getting an education and getting one hellll of a job. that is what my direct grandfather fought for. he joined the revolutionary war to gain his freedom because he was a ''man of color'', yes folks a slave.

i am proud of my heritage, i am proud to be an american, i am proud of my degree.

it sickens me to see my cousins act in such a drug filled disrespectful way, taking MLK''s dream and turning it into a sick way of life.

so, therefore, cpaide, i do not allow my husband to keep his in a jar next to the bed. i keep mine in my pants and love both of them.

[jsilver2th]

This has nothing to do with religion...

If this cult under the guise of religion practiced cannibalism instead of child sexual slavery what would all of these nut jobs be crying?

"Oh it''''s just like Russia and Germany - leave these people alone- what a police state- you can even eat your kids anymore- they''''re entitled to their beliefs-"

I say good for Texas- it''''s about time- 4 years of informant information and the local sheriff sits on his rump- run that one out of office and anyone that caters to these creeps.

[battleroaron]

release the prisoners of your religious crusade now.......

[battleroaron]

ever heard of freedom of religion????? so much for their rights given them in the constitution. i guess you only have "rights" if you do, with those rights, what they think you should be doing with those rights...... all these children taken and still no arrests, i think the whole thing is ***. if they had any kind of evidence they would have arrested someone by now, they can''t even find the girl that supposedly called them, rofl, rofl, rofl. and they even had a spy for 4 years in the estate( i shudder to call this a compound,if this is a compound then so is all of your gated communities!!!!!! so much for privacy, isn''t that one of your liberties ????? in 4 years they haven''t enough evidence to make an arrest yet???????? sounds like religious persecution to me, i mean they are living in republican central....

[cpaide]

"nnot just cut off the nuts, but do it texas style,,,, tie em up till they turn black and fall off."
Posted by bdrlnt4rl

so do you at least let your husband keep his in a jar by the bed?

[milesbrown49]

beehive21: I one-hundred percent agree with you. This is crazy and makes me feel like it could happen to any of us. I don''t agree with their religion, but I am American and do belive they have the right to practice is as long as they are within the laws. If the only proof of the law being broken is the crank call they cannot validify, those children should be home. From what I understand Dale Barlow was not even in the state of Texas during this period of time. This is crazy!!

[bdrlnt4rl]

MichelleM99

i am sorry your friend brainwashed you into believing the real lds church is not christ centered because when i have attended their service and their socials with my neighbor, christ is all they taked about. i was very impressed with their love for christ. it made me feel very lucky that my neighbor is very much a christain.

one day i hope you see that they really are christ centered.

[beehive21-2009]

We are witnessing the complete abuse of the Constitution of the USA,whats up Doc.No proof, being held as prisoners ,hope Texas has a lot of extra $$$ its going to cost em , lots.

[jsilver2th]

This has nothing to do with religion...

If this cult under the guise of religion practiced cannibalism instead of child sexual slavery what would all of these nut jobs be crying?

"Oh it''s just like Russia and Germany - leave these people alone- what a police state- you can even eat your kids anymore- they''re entitled to their beliefs-"

I say good for Texas- it''s about time- 4 years of informant information and the local sheriff sits on his rump- run that one out of office and anyone that caters to these creeps.