Possible Abuse Of Sect Boys Investigated

Officials Tell Lawmakers Of Possible Sexual Abuse, Broken Bones Among Polygamist Children

(AP)  Texas officials told legislators Wednesday that they're investigating the possible sexual abuse of some young boys taken from a polygamist sect's ranch, as well as broken bones among other children.

The disclosures are the first suggestions that anyone other than teenage girls may have been sexually or physically abused at the ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon sect.

In written and oral testimony provided to lawmakers Wednesday, officials with the state Department of Family and Protective Services said interviews and journal entries suggested that boys may have been sexually abused.

Earlier, the department's commissioner, Carey Cockerell, told lawmakers that at least 41 children, some of them "very young," have evidence of broken bones.

The state has custody of 464 children from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in the west Texas prairie town of Eldorado, including a baby born to a teen mother Tuesday.

Although Cockerell didn't elaborate on the broken bones, a report by his department's Child Protective Services division said medical exams and interviews indicated "that at least 41 children have had broken bones in the past."

"We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information, but it is cause for concern and something we'll continue to examine," the CPS report said.

The state Senate Health and Human Services Committee's hearing on Texas' foster care system had been planned for Wednesday before the April 3 raid on the ranch. But for the morning part of the hearing, the polygamous sect took center stage.

The state has been criticized for taking all the children from the ranch, including infants and boys, on the theory that the girls may be abused when they are teens.

State authorities raided the ranch in search of evidence of underage girls being forced into polygamous marriages. Since then, the state won temporary custody of the children, now scattered around the state in group foster-care facilities.

FLDS spokesman Rod Parker called Cockerell's testimony "a deliberate effort to mislead the public."

Although the ranch has a small medical facility, Parker said any broken bones would have been treated away from the ranch and that doctors are required to report suspected abuse.

Parker said state officials were "trying to politically inoculate themselves from the consequences of this horrible tragedy."

Cockerell told a legislative committee the investigation has been difficult because members of the church have refused to cooperate.

Mothers who stayed with their children for two weeks after the raid launched a coordinated effort to stymie investigators, coaching their children to not answer questions, Cockerell said.

He said the women and children would gather into apparent family units, with the children referring to several women as their mother, then the "women switched children in these family units ... making it difficult."

"When asked, women and children would change their names and ages," he said.

The CPS report also said authorities "tried to use bracelets to identify children, but the women and children removed the bracelets or rubbed the wording off them."

The report also said mothers at first refused to let the children undergo basic health screenings and that "many" teen girls declined to take pregnancy tests.

On Monday, CPS announced that almost 60 percent of the underage girls living on the Eldorado ranch are pregnant or already have children.

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 the sect's girls is believed to have had a legal marriage under state law.

Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the ranch and say the state's actions are a form of religious persecution. They also dispute the count of teen mothers, saying at least some are likely adults.

[1prod]

The state is in a propaganda campaign to keep public opinion on their side. Texas appears to be communist.
It is amazing how much assumption based judgment I have read here. People will create a story with little or no facts. There%u2019s abuse, no evidence yet. All the men are polygamist, wrong, it has been reported on the news that there are traditional, 1 husband, 1 wife families on the ranch. They are all under brainwashing control: Many churches that seriously practice their religion have "Discipline" as a virture. The discipline of prayer, people who pray EVERYDAY. The discipline of modesty, how they dress, ect. Having a group in one accord is an ideology that is based in Christianity and probably other religions too. Having a leader who leads people in how to live holy lives is what church is suppose to be. And this is very contrary to the majority of Americans as they see church as a supplemental activity like going to the movies and should conform to their new American ideal of ''let no one tell you what to do''.
All I can say is that just as you have the right to live your life as you choose within the law, people who choose devout religion have a right to choose how they want to live as long as they are within the laws of their country and their state.
Let an investigation take place on a case by case basis not a class action against an entire community. If any individuals have broken laws, let them be prosecuted but leave the community alone to live the way they choose.

[cpaide]

Posted by firststate

i know all that. will it make you feel better if i call you julius or gaius? ya, definately gaius. at least caesar shut up after the et tu part.

or was it "%u03BA%u03B1%u1F76 %u03C3%u03CD, %u03C4%u03AD%u03BA%u03BD%u03BF%u03BD"/"Kai su, teknon?"/"You too, my child?" wow, caesar spoke latin AND greek. cool.

did you know he was a polygamist. that''s right: 3 wives.

good thing your mom isn''t around to see you embarrass yourself.

oh, and when the boys reach 13, we send them to school, which is what should have happened to you. sorry, but i can''t help you now.

[firststate]

cpaide

No moron, you brought my mother into this in a previous post. I said "would be" proud because she is deceased, making it difficult to ask. What''s with the lesbian BS, were you so lousy in the sack that two of your "wives" ran off together.

You don''t need to leave the state of Texas, you live in a state of denial. You''re like Baghdad Bob denying that American forces were attacking Baghdad while the room was shaking from the bombs and cruise missiles.

You refuse to say what you do to get rid of 2/3 of the boys when they reach 13.

Et tu is Latin, not French and means literally "and you" or colloquially "you too". Your fine education is showing.

[cpaide]

Posted by firststate

You are obviously quite unhappy with the Constitution of the United States. That''s where you''re wrong. You seem to object to basic constitutional rights if nazi-like actions of texas officials are rationalized by a false argument that enforcing these laws in this manner will stop the fictitious molestation of children and polygamy. Since all 50 states have similar laws, but generally do not enforce them by rounding up an entire village of women and children, holding them in a fort and a rodeo arena, and then farming the children out to lesbian foster parents, perhaps you and the lesbians you support would be comfortable somewhere that doesn''t prevent such arrangements. France would go for it, but you''d have to drop the sham of being Christian.

[cpaide]

"my mother would be proud"
Posted by firststate

"would be proud" or "is proud"? i see i''ve hit a big gay nerve there. i would apologize but you''re the one who brought your mother into this.

so you are the perfect example of why the KLK should not be allowed to adopt, foster or raise any of the texas mormon children.

[cpaide]

"Et tu, pedophile"
Posted by firststate

that''s a "yes" in french, right? my fine, french lesbian friend.

[firststate]

cpaide

You deny the existence of the Lost Boys, so what does the Texas cult do with the boys when they reach puberty?

You are obviously quite unhappy with the State of Texas. That''s your right. You seem to object to their enforcing laws prohibiting molestation of children and polygamy. Since all 50 states have similar laws, perhaps you and the pedophiles you support would be comfortable somewhere that doesn''t prevent such arrangements. The Middle East would go for it, but you''d have to drop the sham of being Christian.

[firststate]

cpaide
Et tu, pedophile

[fabrat1]

Maybe if we all ignore cpaide he will go away. I can see that I''m not the only one tired of hearing his stupid comments about the KLK. We all know he can''t read or he would know that they already know that at least some of the boys have been abused.

[cpaide]

"Okay, the Lost Boys will have to be forced to testify but, they should be interviewed anyway."
Posted by denn034

yes, my stupid lesbian friend, let''s FORCE everyone to do what you want while in your usual mad fit of rage against society.

let''s so as the social workers do and "interview" these boys for hours on end with false promises if they will only "recall" what you want them to allege.

there are no "lost boys" from the texas mormons. that is a lie, obviously. otherwise, some of them would have come forth and made accusations long before this became an entertaining media circus, which is what it is--nothing more.

texas needs to round up and interview the lost hillbillys scattered throughout the state. i know for a fact that many of them have broken bones. and then round up the children in the housing projects in houston and dallas. i''m sure many of the teenagers are pregnant and/or have children and/or broken bones. big deal, you say? here''s a little secret: many of them a religious! now that''s cause for a real investigation, don''t you think? oh, i forgot: you don''t!