Deal To Return Polygamist Kids Monday

(CBS/AP)  Texas authorities and a polygamist sect have reached a tentative agreement to begin returning children taken by the state starting Monday.

A draft agreement released in court by Texas Child Protective Services attorney Gary Banks on Friday said the parents can get their children back after showing identifications and pledging to
take parenting classes and remain in Texas.

The agreement was reached with the 38 mothers of the 124 children who filed the complaint that prompted the Texas Supreme Court to rule Thursday that the state overstepped its authority in taking more than 400 children.

But the deal would affect nearly all the children since they were removed under identical circumstances.

"I'm happy (when) all the children are back to their mothers and we're home," said Martha Emack, who was visiting her 1-year-old and 2-year-old in foster care in Austin when word of the ruling arrived Thursday.

The court said child welfare officials overstepped their authority and the children should be returned to their parents, a crushing blow to the state's massive seizure of children from the polygamist sect's ranch in western Texas.

The high court affirmed a decision by an appellate court last week, saying Child Protective Services failed to show an immediate danger to the more than 400 children swept up from the Yearning For Zion Ranch nearly two months ago.

"On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted," the justices said in their ruling issued in Austin.

The high court let stand the appellate court's order that Texas District Judge Barbara Walther return the children from foster care to their parents. It's not clear how soon that may happen, but the appellate court ordered her to do it within a reasonable time period.

Walther may still put restrictions on where the parents could live, for example, once the children are returned.

The ruling says the state can grant "other appropriate relief" to protect the children, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says that means that Texas will be able to closely watch events at the ranch in Eldorado.

"They'll be able to check on these children from time to time or limit the sect's chance to keep things the private," Cohen said. "This is a ruling that gives both sides a little of what they wanted."

The ruling shatters one of the largest child-custody cases in U.S. history. State officials said the removals were necessary to end a cycle of sexual abuse at the ranch in which teenage girls were forced to marry and have sex with older men, but parents denied any abuse and said they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Every child at the ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Eldorado was removed; half were 5 or younger.

CPS officials said they were disappointed by the ruling but would take immediate steps to comply.

"We are disappointed, but we understand and respect the court's decision," the agency said in a written statement.

The case before the court technically only applies to the 124 children of 38 mothers who filed the complaint that prompted the ruling, but it significantly affects nearly all the children since they were removed under identical circumstances.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled last week that the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and had offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.

The FLDS, which teaches that polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.

Roughly 430 children from the ranch are in foster care after two births, numerous reclassifications of adult women initially held as minors and a handful of agreements allowing parents to keep custody while the Supreme Court considered the case.

Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults. One was 27.

Under state law, children can be taken from their parents if there's a danger to their physical safety, an urgent need for protection and if officials made a reasonable effort to keep the children in their homes. The high court agreed with the appellate court that the seizures fell short of that standard.

CPS lawyers had argued that parents could remove their children from state jurisdiction if they regain custody, that DNA tests needed to confirm parentage are still pending and that the lower-court judge had discretion in the case.

The justices said child welfare officials can take numerous actions to protect children short of separating them from their parents and placing them in foster care, and that Walther may still put restrictions on the children and parents to address concerns that they may flee once reunited.

[balazon]

Bigamy is a felony. TEX. PEN. C. 25.01, and a first-degree, life-sentence felony f the girl purportedly married is under 16, full text readily avialable on line. Why aren''''t those guilty under arrest? *** with someone under 16 is also a crime....

I asked that same question when my 16 year old daughter decided she knew better than anyone else and ran away from home. She had s*x with a 26 year old. Police were given the address where she and he were residing. Their comment.....they couldn''t do anything. Guess it boils down to some laws are only enforced based on media coverage during an election year?

[balazon]

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled last week that the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and had offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.

5 children allegedly sexually abused at the FLDS ranch / 400 children removed from parents custody illegally. = .0125%

656,000 population of Austin, Texas*.0125% = 8,200 children in Austin Texas at risk for removal from their homes by CPS using same reasoning as presented to Judge.

Anyone else think there is something wrong with the numbers? I believe that those children at risk where the evidence shows that risk should have been removed. I also am not defending the polygamists beliefs either. Only stating that if CPS had done their jobs CORRECTLY in the first place, those that were abused would be protected and those not abused would still be at home with their parents whether we believe the same as they do or not.

This issue could have and should have been handled much better to serve the children in question.

[lisann326]

I don''t understand how religions can hide behind the freedom of religion in this country. Amish and Mennonites abuse animals with their puppy mills, Muslims come over and sacrafice animals for religious beliefs. Our country was founded on Christian beliefs and now we are GIVING our country away. It is a shame. These polygamists should be sent to jail for breaking the law just the rest of us do and get them all off of food stamps. It is a shame how the middle class has to pay for EVERYONE who breaks the law.

[transaction7-2009]

Bigamy is a felony. TEX. PEN. C. 25.01, and a first-degree, life-sentence felony f the girl purportedly married is under 16, full text readily avialable on line. Why aren''t those guilty under arrest? *** with someone under 16 is also a crime, same queston. Warren Jeffs, so-called Prophet and Boss of this outfit, is a convicted child abuser in Utah. Why doesn''t that pattern of bigamy-polygamy n an isolated compund add up to an environment, or at least probably cuuse to believe that an environment is, dangerous to the physical or psychological heath of ay children there, per the Family Code, before we get nto specifics of who sired whom, who had *** with whom, etc. We all heard tadults say they didn''t know *** with a 14 year old compound resident was illegal, utterly incredible and evidence of unfitness to be around a child.

[gaye5]

yep, send them back to their many fathers and mothers, dont charge them for polygamy, as they are not going to be charged with polygamy the law is now non existant.. I can go and do what I want as there is no law.. If I committe a crime then I can site this case and tell them to go and jump..
America your laws are a joke now, and thankgoodness Australia is at this moment still quite good, but it is also faiding fast..

[wlmrtpatriot]

I believe atty. gn Janet Reno gave the order to attack the bunch in Waco. I don''t know who gave the order to "not insert tear gas", but it was applauded by the NYT.

[bozworth4]

Adult women who are required to wear a certain uniform, have their hair a certain way, etc. are being abused and brainwashed. Posted by NonayaBiness

Ever been around Amish folks??? Menonites???? Church of God???? Traditional Catholic???

[cfin5]

Just curious, who was the State Governor then when the Waco thing went down?

[cfin5]

The head honcho there is a kook,....but at least they didn''t go in there and kill everybody like they did at Waco. Wouldn''t surprise me though if the military was warming up the Tanks just in case.

[nonayabiness]

I think the State did the right thing to take the children. Better safe than sorry. However, once it realized how much it would cost, it decided to give the kids back and investigate on a case by case basis.

Adult women who are required to wear a certain uniform, have their hair a certain way, etc. are being abused and brainwashed. With the leader marrying 12-15 year old girls, there is plenty of abuse going on there.