SAN ANTONIO, April 28, 2008
Many Polygamy Teens Moms Or Pregnant
60 Percent Of Girls Ages 14 Through 17 In Texas' Custody Have Given Birth Or Are Pregnant
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Shocking Revelation In Texas
More than half of the teenaged girls taken from the polygamist compound in West Texas have children or are pregnant. Hari Sreenivasan reports.
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Children taken from a polygamist sect are moved in buses from the San Angelo Coliseum into temporary foster care, April 22, 2008 in San Angelo, Texas. (CBS)
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Photo Essay
Separation Anxiety
Some mothers in polygamist sect separated from children as part of abuse investigation.
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Photo Essay
Polygamist Compound Raid
Secret calls from alleged abuse victim lead to raid of religious sect's compound.
Of the 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who are in state custody, 31 either have given birth or are expecting, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar.
"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," Azar said Monday after releasing the latest figures.
Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. A girl can get married with parental permission at 16, but none of these girls is believed to have a legal marriage under state law.
Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado and say the state's actions are a form of religious persecution.
State officials took custody of all 463 children at the ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying a pattern of teen girls forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.
Of the 463 children, 250 are female, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.
FLDS spokesman Rod Parker said he does not believe the CPS count is accurate. He said that from talking to ranch residents, he believes at least 17 of the girls may actually be adults but have been labeled by child welfare authorities as minors.
Agency officials have called into question claims of adulthood among the girls since the raid and have in some cases disputed documentation provided, saying the girls look younger than 18. Because many FLDS members share similar names and have complicated family relationships, identifying all of the children taken into custody has been a challenge.
"I do have serious questions about how they are determining age in there," said Parker, who is trying to get a better count from FLDS families.
He said the sect is at a disadvantage in proving names and ages because law enforcement confiscated every document that might show family relationships.
The latest information from CPS comes with "absolutely nothing to back it up other than it's coming from them, and they think we should trust them," Parker said.
CPS said they are slowly getting some cooperation from girls, who initially claimed to be older than their actual age, reports Sreenivasan.
All the children are supposed to get individual hearings before June 5 to help determine if they'll stay in state custody or if their parents may be able to take steps to regain custody.
Civil liberties groups and lawyers for the children have criticized the state for sweeping all the children, from nursing infants to teen boys, into foster care when only teen girls are alleged to have been sexually abused.
No one has been charged since the raid, which was prompted by a series of calls to a domestic abuse hot line, purportedly from a 16-year-old girl forced into a marriage recognized only by the sect with a man three times her age. That girl has not been found and authorities are investigating whether the call was a hoax.
On Monday, CPS also revised its total count of children in state custody to 463, up one from Friday. Azar said the change resulted from finally getting the children out of temporary housing in the San Angelo Coliseum and into foster facilities around the state where they could get a more accurate count.
Children 13 and younger are about evenly split - 197 girls and 196 boys - but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range.
Azar said the numbers could still change slightly because authorities have not seen documentation on all the children and have struggled to positively identify everyone.
The sect, that broke from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more than a century ago, believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven. Its leader, Warren Jeffs, is revered as a prophet. Jeffs was convicted last year in Utah of forcing a 14-year-old girl into marriage with an older cousin.
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See all 142 CommentsHe used religion as a pretext for his pedophilia.
The other great master is G W Bush.
He used the threat of terrorism as a pretext to carry on massive war profiteering in Iraq.
Great ideas come from these devil incarnates.
Heckuva job, Jeffs and Bush!
you are deceptive, yes; but not a master. like gw bush, you use an imaginary threat (of polygamy and child abuse) as a pretext to carry out a raid on innocent women and children. Heckuva job, jerr11 and Bush!
"none of these girls is believed to have a legal marriage under state law"
everyone knows that the texas anti-polygamy laws will not hold up in court any more than previous texas laws criminalizing adultery.
let the women and children return to their homes.
Nothing I''ve read in the passages about Heaven in the Holy Bible even mentions polygamy.
Sounds like another cult "making up" their own rules to suit their own immoral and evil desires.
I feel so sorry for these young girls who have had older men forcing themselves on them.
Sounds like they were using them mainly for "breeding" purposes to raise a new generation to abuse.
Sadder than sad.
.....but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range.
Dear Lord.
So - 2/3 pregnant. Who are the fathers?
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And they protest thier children being taken away with that mentality?
They don''t consider doing 14,15,16, and 17 year olds abuse?
Absurd.
Posted by merlgrey at 11:06 PM : Apr 28, 2008
You think tht girls being bred by grown men is superior to state care?
Hilarious!
Posted by lambofgoth at 10:52 PM : Apr 28, 2008
I think you''ve confused Mormons with Catholics here....
Why are the children and mothers punished and moved around, being traumatized...while the supposedly child abusers are free??? makes me wonder about the truth in these CPS statements??? are they just saying that to justify their horrible raid against children??? if it''s teh truth, why are the perpetrators not in jail yet???
Miley Cyrus Says Vanity Fair Photo Spread Embarrasses Her...
WHY DOESN''T THE AUTHORITIES, LIKE CPS ETC GO AFTER THESE PARENTS EXPLOITING THEIR DAUGHTER IN A VILE WAY??? WHY NOT TAKE HER WAY AND PUT HER IN FOSTER HOME??? AS WELL AS HER OTHER SIBLINGS??? ISN''T THAT LEADING THE CHILD TO IMMORALITY??? ISN''T THAT ENCOURAGING PEDOPHILES TO FANTASY OVER OUR KIDS???NO WONDER THERE ARE SO MANY CHILD MOLESTERS NOW, COZ OF ALL THESE EXPLOITED SO CALLED TEENAGE STARS BY THEIR PARENTS AND MAGAZINES!!!
DOES THE LAW APPLY TON EVERYONE IN THE U.S OR JUST TO THE POOR WHO CANNOT AFFORD EXPENSIVE LAWYERS???
One reason is because they are "White" males, who claim to be an extremist branch of a recognized "religion". The political implications are going to be pretty messy to sort out, as any prosecution will be subject to scrutiny under the "freedom of religion" concept.
It is why Warren Jeffs is in jail on other charges, the courts are too lazy, and afraid of the "religious right" (now there is an oxymoron of a name for a bunch of morons) to wade into that one.
Looking for translators to become cannon fodder in Iraq, or Afghanistan? Was it yet another invitation to "live and work in the USA"?
bookbags, other commercial hype etc. and look up to her image. It''s only image, though and apparently parental consent was given for this photo op.
Posted by Edward1975
sounds like you and bubba are quite close. castration and prison obviously didn''t help you; why do you think it would help the mormans?
Posted by formrusmcsgt
ya, but don''t let hugh hefner or donald trump hear you say that.
Rumors have circulated about them for years. Some former members have made unsubstantiated claims that to date, authorities felt were too weak to prosecute.
They sound like a real threat to me, my family...my entire way of life.
Now maybe there was some, in the eyes of the law, some inappropriate behavior going on out there. Do an investigation on the commission of a crime based on probable cause. Collect your evidence and take it to the DA for them to prosecute. That is how it is done in this country.
There is no way to justify what happened in Texas. How can a call from 1, now dubious, "victim" justify separating 463 children from their homes and families.
CBS News
Well, somethings going on over there and the state was right to get involed.
31 out of 53, so far, isn''t just a statistical outlier, but frames a criminal and immoral enterprise. These young women are sexual chattle and must be protected from those predatory men and defenseless women. I would hope that the LDS church and the state of Utah is helping Texas CPS with these cases with background support socialcultural information.
This is the United States of America and not Plato''s Republic. Communal rearing or polygymy aren''t the issues, sexual abuse of children is.
CBS News
The boys will become sexual competition and are thrown aside. Young men ignorrant of the outside world, eventually becoming wards of the state. That, in-and-of-itself, is compelling enough for the state to have interest in the private business of that private community.
So you want an explanation for what happened in El Dorado,Texas?
Authorities,at the request of the locals moved in and separated children from parents,basically destroying that community-centered around the church.
Why?
In about 2-3 years that enclave was going to double in size-the mormon families have 6 children minimum-the neighbors have decided to shut them down.
Forget the Constitution and basic freedom of religion right-it all comes down to envious human beings.
Rumors have circulated about them for years. Some former members have made unsubstantiated claims that to date, authorities felt were too weak to prosecute.
They sound like a real threat to me, my family...my entire way of life.
Now maybe there was some, in the eyes of the law, some inappropriate behavior going on out there. Do an investigation on the commission of a crime based on probable cause. Collect your evidence and take it to the DA for them to prosecute. That is how it is done in this country.
There is no way to justify what happened in Texas. How can a call from 1, now dubious, "victim" justify separating 463 children from their homes and families.
I don''t believe there is anything laughable about this. While other teens in Texas or elsewhere may become pregnant (and never should) there is a difference between consent and abuse. While anyone under 18 in our country is not able to legally give consent, face it, it happens. These women and children were held captive in the name of ''religion'' and knew no differently. It''s abuse, plain and simple, initiated by one guy with control issues and a sexual disorder.
Authorities,at the request of the locals moved in and separated children from parents,basically destroying that community-centered around the church.
Why?
In about 2-3 years that enclave was going to double in size-the mormon families have 6 children minimum-the neighbors have decided to shut them down.
Forget the Constitution and basic freedom of religion right-it all comes down to envious human beings.
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Posted by mediapreachr at 02:43 AM : Apr 29, 2008
+ report abuse
You are one of the sickest humans I''ve ever come in contact with! HONEST! Anyone who would condone what IS concidered NORMAL PRACTICE in this compound, would somehow square that with OUR constitution, is beyond belief. But for that totally sick mind to then try to place blame on those who seek to prevent this from going on, who seek to return at least a degree of self worth to the Female''s in this compound... Well there is NOTHING in the Taliban that is different from this loser. ANYONE who thinks this creature wouldn''t send Females out with a bomb strapped to them is dreaming. Sieg Heil and Amen.
Frankly, it doesn''t matter who made the call to authorities. What matters is that someone did, and that that the allegation met the criteria for Probable Cause. The boys have been all but forgotten. Could any of you make your way in the world after being kicked out at 14 by the very community who professes to love you?
Does Probable Cause exist that child abuse and neglect is ocurring?...in the terms I often here from uninformed people hiding behind thier right to own property...
DUH...!
I commend the state of Texas for their couragous act on the part of the children.
Now let me just comment this morning, and say that sadly the Texas Law Officials were correct in this legal action, which shows how difficult it is to respect Freedom of Religion and maintain Civil Liberties, yet enforce the common Laws of the Land.
so my hat goes off to the Texas Rangers in this regard.
Another serious point of interest, I would like to discuss this day is the whole Hanna Montanna hubbub I think parents need to get a Reality Check when they pick Idols for their children, I don`t want this to be an attack on anyone person, but we have the tendency to Idolize people, then feel devistated when they don`t measure up to our preconcieved ideas.
4.) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5.) Thou shalt not bow down thy-self to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
I really do miss having the Laws of The Land posted in the city parks around the nation, how did we ever sink so low ?
sincerely your eye on the sky Bear
Fuzzy
dragonwagon5, I agree for the most part. That cpaide5 guy is a real nut-job.
yep!
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Posted by excoachken at 09:10 AM : Apr 29, 2008
Let me just say that Walt Disney could never have imagined America in 2008,
and what about school teachers ?
someone mentioned a story about a group of school kids on the east coast getting up at 4:00 am to catch a bus Bus to Disneyland that they paid for, only to find no bus there and all the money $7500 ran off with the substitute teacher.
I just wish I could help those kids get to Disneyland.
sincerely Fuzzy Bear
However, the law is clear - you''re NOT ALLOWED to go doinking underage girls - period. And as much as I understand that it wasn''t that long ago where older men would commonly marry 12-16 year olds & the like.... they changed that practice & enacted a law banning it for a reason - a good one IMO - so according to not only law, but most people - having *** with these girls amounts to child molestation & is punishable. You don''t get a free pass to violate such laws because you''re religion allows it.
------------------------------------------------------by marizara at 10:14 AM : Apr 29, 2008
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State the crimes? Source?
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