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DNA Testing Ordered in Texas Religious Child Abuse Case
POLYGAMY & ABUSE? The State of Texas is investigating whether young girls are being forced into sex and motherhood before the age of 16 at a compound near Eldorado, Texas. Meanwhile, 416 children and underaged mothers removed from the Yearning for Zion Ranch (YFZ) await their court-decided fate.
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) fight for their children in one of the largest child welfare custody battles in American history. The State continues to hold the children in the San Angelo Sports Coliseum and Pavilion, about 45 miles from the ranch. After collecting DNA samples, the State will place the children in temporary foster care while it investigates the abuse charges.
More than 400 Children Must Wait
Last week, State District Judge Barbara Walther presided over one of the largest and most complex child custody cases. For two days, 350 attorneys represented the parents of the FLDS children and underaged mothers taken into custody. The polygamist nature of the group makes it difficult to know who is related, and YFZ members could or would not tell social workers.
Walther ordered a DNA test for every adult and child who lives at the ranch to help the State decide who the parents are of the 416 children currently held in State protection. From there the State can determine how old the mothers would have been when they gave birth. The legal age for marriage in Texas is 16. It appears, according to Child Protective Services, that at least 20 girls became pregnant or gave birth before they were 16 or 17.
Walther ruled the children must remain in state custody until results from the DNA tests come back, which could be as long as six weeks. Until then, the State plans to hold separate hearings for every child.
Sources
"UDNA tests to determine parentage in polygamist sect" (Houston Chronicle)
"To regain kids, FLDS women try new tactic: public relations" (Christian Science Monitor)
"Moms and young children from Texas ranch to be parted" (AP)
"Texas sect kicked out its boys as teens (Arizona Republic)
Copyright © 2009 Informify
Question for our readers:
Does prohibiting underage marriage infringe on the FLDS’ religious beliefs?
- Split from mainstream Mormonism in 1890 when the Mormon Church prohibited polygamy
- Led by Warren Jeffs, who is imprisoned for arranging a 14-year-old girl’s marriage
- Communities near Salt Lake City; Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; Eldorado, Texas
- Estimated 10,000 members
- YFZ Ranch most recent compound, built in 2004
- Members practice spiritual and polygamist marriages (not legally recognized)
- Not officially recognized by the mainstream Mormon Church
Q. Why did Child Protective Services (CPS) take the children from their homes?
A. When children have been abused or neglected, or are in imminent danger of being harmed, CPS can remove them from their home for their own safety. When an unidentified 16-year-old girl called a domestic violence shelter to report her 50-year-old husband had raped and beaten her, CPS stepped in. Authorities raided the 1,691-acre YFZ compound in West Texas April 3, and removed the young children and teen girls.
Q. What does CPS think happened to the children?
A. As with other FLDS groups, the YFZ sect believes in underage marriages and births. State prosecutors argued last week that this belief translates into child sexual abuse, and that leaving the young children and teen girls on the ranch places them in imminent danger.
Q. What will happen to the children if the court convicts their parents of abuse?
A. They will be placed in permanent foster homes. CPS hopes to keep siblings and underaged mothers and their children together if possible.
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Show/Hide commentsWhat a debacle!
Nic from Salt Lake City, UT said:
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Okay, I think we can all agree that illegal/bad/wrong things are going on at that compound, but how do you allow these people their religious freedom (which I'm all for) while ensuring they don't do anything illegal? Holding these kids away from their families, grilling them, DNA testing them and such is terrible - but is there a better way? On a side note, I'd love it if Mitt Romney was still running. To see him try to explain this freaky spin-off of his religion. |
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