The YFZ Ranch

Peter Van Sant Reports On The April 2008 Raid Of The YFZ Ranch

(CBS)  But Texas officials made public a hand-written ledger called the "Bishop's record," which seems to refute what Willie Jessop is saying. Seized during the raid, the record suggests that young girls at the ranch have married and engaged in illegal sex with older men. Jessop refused to even look at it.

"This is a document taking from the ranch. There's five 16-year-olds here that are married to older men," Van Sant explains.

"Is this alleged?" Jessop asks.

"No, it's by the FLDS' own documents. You wanna take a look?" Van Sant asks.

"I don't need to take a look 'cause I didn't fill it out," Jessop says.

"Have middle aged men, members of your church, had spiritual marriages with 16-year-olds?" Van Sant asks.

"Let's put it this way, has any member in society had sex with under-aged girls?" Jessop replies.

"One of the things that would really help in this case, would be if the FLDS provided birth certificates of these kids, marriage certificates of these kids, if the men would agree to DNA testing," Van Sant remarks.

"You want that for yourself? Do you want me to go into your community and gather up everybody in your city streets? And do you want the government to have your DNA on your daughter and your children and your family for what purpose? To try to come up with some perverted allegation against you?" Jessop asks.

"Of course, I wouldn't want that to happen," Van Sant replies.

"Then why do you want me to answer those questions?" Jessop asks.

"Because your church has been accused of sexually abusing children, that’s why," Van Sant says.

"So has the Catholics, so has any other religion, including Mormons. Should we just take them all down? Is there not a crime committed in any religion? Why do we single it out?" Jessop says.

"You're telling me that this raid, the pulling apart of these families, the destruction of this religious of community is all based on lies?" Van Sant asks.

"What part of, 'Hell, yes,' don't you understand?" Jessop says.

The Texas Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on whether the State’s removal of the children was illegal. Until then, what happens to them, and their parents, is anyone’s guess.

"We want to be together in the home that we want to live in and the place we want to live," says Dan Jessop. "And the YFZ Ranch is where we want to live. But we are willing to move out of town, move out of Texas even, if that’s what they expect us to do to get our children back."

[sibbymom2]

If Louisa Jessop is 22, I am 30.

[nosugrof]

CBS apparently hasnt noticed the following fact. 25 of the CPS'' underage mothers are in fact adults. Yes, it is based on lies.

[mommakat64]

Have you ever had the "missionaries" come to your door? Ask them about the belief that each man, when he dies, becomes a "god" with his own heaven wherein his wife and children also live when they die. Then ask, if the children are supposed to inhabit their father''s heaven, where should the mother be...maybe in HER father''s heaven?? Or, if the sons marry and have children, where do the sons go...with their father? Or to heavens of their own? With wives that will go to the sons'' heavens, or to the wives'' fathers'' heavens???? Same questions should be asked about the daughters/wives. You can see how this whole mess can get out of hand real quick. I ask the first question and they hmm and haw...by the third question, they''re backing out the door. It''s like Joseph Smith didn''t think anything through, just made it up willy-nilly as he went. It doesn''t make sense. And, yes, the switching of wives and polygamy started right from the start, and is what started the fights in Missouri and Illinois. Some of the de-wifed husbands didn''t cotton to the idea and took their grievances to the local press, who published the accounts. The citizens of the towns were outraged, jailed Smith and his son for bigamy. Others raided the jail--I wonder how many of the displaced husbands were in that crowd--and hanged the Smiths. Thus started the long trip to Zion..otherwise know as Utah. Once a disease is started and let run for a while, it''s hard to stop.

[mommakat64]

Not just excuses, but playing a shell game with the facts. These men have their s**t together though. The women and children have never been outside of their community and have been taught to fear "the outsiders". Rest assured "the outsiders" are the subject of many "hell and brimstone" sermons and classes. It is so heartbreaking to any person who has been raised, and lives, without those confining, crippling fears. From what I''ve read, heard and know, these women CANNOT show any jealousy toward other wives...so they take it out on each others'' children. And what woman would EVER feel good about a younger woman sharing her husband, especially, if she''s 13, 14 years old.

[gal50]

Excuses, excuses, excuses. Nearly every response in this article is an excuse. The FLDS had every opportunity to practice its religion in Utah and Arizona. The crime of polygamy was hardly ever prosecuted.

Why in the world, would this group when engaged in illegal behavior, which it felt was necessary to get to heaven, risk everything by electing to engage in further illegal behavior that was unnecessary to get to heaven? It didn''t need to marry underage girls and it didn''t need to abandon underage boys. It didn''t need to engage in forced marriage or wife reassignment.

How did the FLDS not expect a backlash from unhappy FLDS members and the outside world over the increase in illegal and harsh behavior? It didn''t seem to understand the concept of consequences or to realize that people are motivated to fight injustices.

The tricks the FLDS has in its bag are to spread out among states, to isolate the sect members and to become fugitives. Fugitives have a high capture rate especially when the FBI is involved, isolation didn''t work in Texas and now the federal government has promised to get involved in this multi-state problem.