AUSTIN, Texas, April 30, 2008
Possible Abuse Of Sect Boys Investigated
Officials Tell Lawmakers Of Possible Sexual Abuse, Broken Bones Among Polygamist Children
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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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Carey Cockerell, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, testifes to members of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services Wednesday, April 30, 2008, in Austin, Texas. Mr. Cockerell oversees the state agency now caring for the children who are in state custody after the raid of a polygamist sect earlier this month. He said medical examinations have revealed numerous physical injuries. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
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Play CBS Video Video 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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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.
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.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 97 CommentsIt 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posted by firststate
that''s a "yes" in french, right? my fine, french lesbian friend.
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.
Et tu, pedophile
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!
The members of this group have diligently tried to confuse and delay this investigation. Does the Book of Mormon overrule the Commandment about bearing false witness?
Posted by firststate
you believe that kidnapping the children and putting them in an old fort and then a rodeo arena is protecting them? sorry, but i can''t help you with that kind of thinking.
when you equate "protect" with "violate basic constitutional rights", of course you are going to believe as you do. it doesn''t make you right-minded, though.
when you equate "confuse and delay" with "stand up for your rights", of course you are going to draw wrong conclusions regarding the mormons. that doesn''t make you right either.
you obviously know nothing about the book of mormon and have not read it; ditto with the bible stuff about bearing false witness, or you would not post the things you do.
your queer focus on these mormon children is astonishing. don''t you have anything better to do with yourself?
Thank you for dropping the lie about the lesbians adopting the children.
Following your reasoning, you know too much about lesbians'' activities not to be either intimately involved or want to be. You routinely do that which you condemn. You provide nothing to back up your claims, just as you accuse CPD of doing. You impugn the intelligence of other posters, while displaying either ignorance or blind allegiance.
I don''t want to exterminate anyone, and my mother would be proud that I believe children should always be protected.
Protect the children first. If the accusations aren''t true, return the children as soon as possible.
The members of this group have diligently tried to confuse and delay this investigation. Does the Book of Mormon overrule the Commandment about bearing false witness? They''ve lied about their names, relationships and ages and tried to prevent keeping track of the individuals, slowing the process down. DNA will prove the relationships.
www.familywatchdog.com...it is such a shame taht there are millions of child rapists living freely in this country...check the websiter and your neighborhood for your kids'' safety...FLDS is they are doing it is bad, our society is worst coz they are allowed to live close to our children..with need better laws for these nasty men...
"A lesbian sect generally considered to be Extremist or False, with it''s followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of one or more Authoritarian, Charismatic leaders. Obsessive, especially faddish devotion to or veneration for a person, principle or thing. Also, obsessive, especially faddish opposition to or disdain for a person, principle or group of people."
Posted by andersonk49
Posted by Rev_Hellhorn
It appears that you and several other people are being mind-managed by the KLK (krazy lesbians kult), which conspired to provide a false police report that resulted in the raid on the Texas Mormons.
The objective of the KLK (whose members include the Texas social workers and judge on the case) is to obtain the humble, white Mormon children and adopt them out to infertile lesbian couples, and that is happening right now.
Once these kids are in the hands of the KLK, they''re told there is no such thing as too early for ***. Whenever the head lesbian tells them to go ''marry'' an old lesbian, that''s who they''re given to. They''re groomed to be pedophile fodder. Information presented shows that they''re given to be concubines (not wives - lesbians can''t have wives) at puberty or before, and have un-natural $ex while still children themselves.
Posted by Rev_Hellhorn
you apparently know way too much about the detailed inclinations and thought processes of pedophiles to not be one. why does posting your nasty little thoughts give you such a thrill? have you tried to get help for your mental abberations?
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No More Secrets : Violence in Lesbian Relationships
http://www.amazon.com/No-More-Secrets-Violence-Relationships/dp/0415929466/
"This study of abuse in lesbian relationships looks you in the eye and dares you to turn away. Far from being a prurient study of a fringe group of violent lesbians, this book demands that the queer community at large--afraid of straight disdain --recognize its accountability. No More Secrets illustrates that despite what many lesbian feminists believe, acts of violence are not committed solely by men."
Posted by NonayaBiness
exactly, and since none of the boys were abused, it is safe to conclude that none of the girls or women were abused either. where do you get these pathetic reasoning "skills"?
Posted by andersonk49
wrong again, my ignorant lesbian friend. but i can tell that you don''t have any children--nor should you ever.
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