220 women, children pulled from Texas polygamist compound

[Praxius]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/07/texas-raid.html

Texas police are interviewing 220 women and children who were removed Friday from a secretive religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, authorities said.

State troopers are looking for evidence to back allegations that a teenage girl married a 50-year-old member of the community and had a baby with him when she was 15. Such a marriage would be illegal under Texas law, which prohibits girls under age 16 to marry, even with parental approval.

The girl, who is now 16, phoned police last week, prompting Friday's police raid of the 700-hectare compound in the small town of Eldorado, about 300 kilometres northwest of San Antonio.

Authorities do not yet know if the teen is among the 220 women and children who were taken from the retreat to the San Angelo Museum, which is north of Eldorado.

As of Monday, 18 children of the children had been legally taken into state custody, a move Child Protective Services makes when it believes children have either been harmed or are in imminent danger. The 18 are now living with relatives.

Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said the women and children taken from the compound are co-operating with authorities.

They boarded buses on Sunday for the San Angelo Museum. Many were wearing long pastel dresses and carrying bedding and infants.
Difficult to determine names, ages of children

Meisner said the investigation is difficult because many members of the community are related to each other and have similar names and change their names frequently. Meisner said ages are also hard to determine.

No arrests had been made by Sunday.

Prosecutor Allison Palmer said authorities know where the 50-year-old under investigation is and have talked to him, although she wouldn't give more details.

The man, Dale Barlow, is on probabtion after serving time last year for sexual conduct with a minor. He was ordered to register as a sex offender during his three years probation.

Police who are investigating the Eldorado compound have a search warrant that allows them to look for marriage records or other evidence linking Barlow to the teen and her baby. The warrant authorizes the seizure of computer drives, CDs, DVDs or photos.
Sect broke from Mormon Church

As police search the compound, they are blocking access to the property and surrounding area. The compound sits behind a large hill in Eldorado, with the entire property shielded from the town's view, except for the top of a 25-metre-tall white temple.

The community is part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect run by Jeffs that broke away from the Mormon Church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.

The sect includes about 1,000 followers in the religious community of Bountiful, B.C.
Jeffs is in jail in Arizona, where he is awaiting a second trial for charges of incest and sexual conduct with a minor.

In November, he was sentenced to two consecutive five-year prison terms for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in Utah in 2001.

In relation to the CTV articles (But is CTV so I figured I would add with one another.)

All I gotta say is YEEEE HAWWWW!

 

[#juan]

We have one of these in Bountiful, B.C: Should it be shut down?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/index.html

 

[Praxius]

Additional Update:

Law enforcement officials assist members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints onto a school bus in Eldorado, Texas, Sunday, April 6, 2008.


Texas sect raid biggest in 50 years: author
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080406/search_poly_080407/20080407?hub=World

The raid on a Texas polygamist compound is the biggest such event in more than 50 years, says an author.

Stephen Singular told Canada AM on Monday that the last comparable raid happened in Arizona in 1953.

"(Gov.) Howard Pyle decided to raid the community in Colorado City, Arizona to -- as he said -- rout out the nest of polygamists," said the writer of "When Men Become Gods: Warren Jeffs, his cult of fear, and the women who fought back."

But the raid backfired, because media images showed families being torn apart and women crying, Singular said.

"As a result, the governor did not get re-elected. The public turned against him and felt he was tampering with a community where he really didn't belong -- the religious community," he said.

For the next 50 years, Arizona and Utah law enforcement officials didn't do much, Singular said.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), is a sect that broke away from the mainstream Mormon Church after the latter renounced polygamy in 1890.

Warren Jeffs took over the sect when his father Rulon died in 2002. He reportedly ruled with an iron first.

The FLDS bought its Texas ranch in 2004. People started to move to the ranch, located about 70 kilometres south of the West Texas city of San Angelo, from Colorado Springs.

About 2004, a 14-year-old girl made a complaint that Jeffs had forced her into a marriage with a much-older cousin. After two years on the lam, Jeffs was arrested in 2006 and convicted last year of being an accomplice to rape. A Utah court sentenced him to five years to life in prison.

Singular said the situation in Texas is similar because a 16-year-old contacted police to complain of abuse.

Friday's raid

This triggered the raid that began Friday. Authorities have removed 220 women and girls from the compound so far. Eighteen girls have been placed into foster care.

However, they aren't sure if the complainant, who allegedly had a baby at 15, is among those removed.

Authorities are looking for evidence the girl married Dale Barlow, 50. Texas law doesn't allow the marriage of girls younger than 16, even with parental consent.

Barlow received a jail sentence last year after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. A judge ordered him to register as a sex offender for three years while on probation.

He is reportedly in Arizona.

Jeffs is currently in a Kingman, Ariz. jail awaiting trial on four counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor. The charges stem from arranged marriages between teenage girls and older male relatives.

Singular said he subtitled his book to acknowledge the fact that it's women making the complaints to force authorities to act.

"This has long gone on inside some of these communities," he said. "The interesting thing is it's always been the women who have come forward, or the girls in some cases, and pushed the prosecution or pushed the police to do something."

The women made it clear the issue wasn't religion, he said. "This isn't about polygamy among consenting adults. This is about child abuse, sexual assault, rape et cetera," Singular said.

Seriously, when do people begin to realize a religion is screwed up and not the right one when you have broken off sects of sects whom schismed from the original sects of Christianity? You have one group saying they're the right way, then other's disagree with those, and make their own rules up and claim they're the right ones, then others break off them and make their own rules up.... and so on and so forth until nobody knows what the hell is going on anymore?

And of course this is probably one of the worse case examples of how this works, but it's all in the name of God some how.

 

[#juan]

We have one of these in Bountiful, B.C.: Should it be shut down?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/index.html

 

[mt_pockets1000]

Hmmm....yeah, these deviant old buggers think it's great to set up some crazy religious sect with their own set of rules that allow them to rape young girls. All in the name of the almighty don't ya know....
Shades of Waco, Texas.

 

[Praxius]

We have one of these in Bountiful, B.C.: Should it be shut down?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/index.html

If they're anything like these perves whom like to marry children so they can rot and control their minds before they can begin to think properly for themselves (Thereby having more controlled wives to do what they say) then yes.

 

[karrie]

We have one of these in Bountiful, B.C.: Should it be shut down?

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/index.html

Absolutely if they're using religion to oppress children and as justification for circumventing the laws surrounding marrying teens.

I see nothing wrong with polygamy or polygany, but I do see something immensely wrong with religious zealotry of this sort. With stripping away the rights of young girls and essentially using your religion as an excuse to foster a hidden sex trade.

 

[faithlessforeve]

If they're anything like these perves whom like to marry children so they can rot and control their minds before they can begin to think properly for themselves (Thereby having more controlled wives to do what they say) then yes.

Since many of these men and women were born into this sect, it is only logical to assume it is the only life they have ever known. If the authorities want this kind of lifestyle eliminated, then they need to recondition these people to "think properly".

The kids should stay with their parents, as it is the only life they know. However; there should be social workers placed onto the farm to moniter the parents with their children.
The children can be placed into modernized schools.

The older members will need to be reconditioned too. After all, it is not their fault that they were born into this cult. They are victims too. They can be reeducated.

It will take awhile, but soon this sect will become history.

 

[spaminator]

Polygamous leader Jeffs accepts plea deal in US$12M food stamp fraud case | Worl