Warren Jeffs FLDS compound in Texas — LINKS ONLY. No discussion. [Archive]

Floh

04-18-2008, 04:52 PM

Photographs of the compound and the compound's people from Trent Nelson.

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2258

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2259

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2262

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2263

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2266

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2250

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2251

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2252

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2254

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2254

http://www.trenthead.com/?p=2274

mollymalone

04-18-2008, 05:55 PM

Rick A. Ross Institute
http://www.rickross.com/groups/polygamy.html

DFPS Texas
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/About/News/2008/2008-04-14_news_pm.asp

San Angelo News - Eldorado
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/news/FLDS/

SuziQ

04-20-2008, 05:31 PM

Tour of polygamist compound 1:09
A member of a polygamist sect gives CNN an exclusive tour of the group's El Dorado, Texas, compound.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/04/16/lkl.flds.polygamy.cnn?iref=videosearch

mollymalone

04-20-2008, 09:35 PM

Eldorado Public Subpoena
http://www.myeldorado.net/Pages/LegalNotices.html

Books/Film on FLDS/Polygamy

Banking on Heaven Film
http://bankingonheaven.com/

http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy647.html
"Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer

"Escape" by Carolyn Jessop (Excerpts)
http://www.slate.com/id/2189275/

http://www.lvrj.com/news/17347999.html
"He Loves Me -- She Loves Me Not" Stacie Lee Hewitt
(assumed name)

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/04/09/news/2_polygamist_080409.txt
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19439/polygamy-32
"Shattered Dreams" by Irene Spencer

http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy782.html
The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect
by Daphne Bramham.

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63625
The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona
Colorado City Polygamists: An Inside Look for the Outsider
by Ben Bistline

http://www.banderasnews.com/0608/en...avoritewife.htm
His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy by Susan Ray Schmidt

mollymalone

04-20-2008, 09:37 PM

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=342&printable=1
In Warren Jeff's own words

Warren Jeffs Polygamous Prophet on Polygamy, African Americans, Confession

Warren Jeffs Teachings on the Negro Race
Warren Jeffs Negro Race Part 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nSgZzTkYiz4
Part 2 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eVzQZm75Nco
part 3 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nXo8qNxUlCU
part 4 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TNp63ZCZ0
part 5 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BSKHLbxkkec
part 6 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x7YI3Q6U4Bw
part 7 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8GUEpNbPxx4

Warren Jeffs Explains POLYGAMY
Warren Jeffs Explaining POLYGAMY
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fbudqrmFSDs
Warren Jeffs #2 Cont. on Polygamy
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RkXA2JxGrJw
Warren Jeffs #3 Continued on Polygamy
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JWzXCdehMI4

Warren Jeffs Jail House Confession
Warren Jeffs Confession part 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9fePt8-VndY
Part 2 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MQoknKRBqhw
Part 3 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u4t1EpxEsvg

mollymalone

04-21-2008, 02:45 AM

April 6, 2008 Affadavit
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archiv.../0408081texas1

Court Exhibits/photos (29 pages in total) shown at trial of Warren Jeffs
http://www.utcourts.gov/media/highp...ck%20Binder.pdf

Moe

04-21-2008, 11:15 AM

The men speak, oh boy!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/21/earlyshow/main4029811.shtml

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 01:57 PM

http://www.ksat.com/news/15935275/detail.html

Child welfare officials allowed adult mothers with children ages 4 and younger to stay together when the state took custody of the rest of the children from the ranch. Now, only mothers younger than 18 will be allowed to remain with their children once the sampling is complete. The welfare agency will also try to keep siblings together, he said.

"We're going to make these transitions as easy as possible," Azar said. "We want to keep them together as much as possible so they don't feel they're completely isolated from their culture or the people they know."

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 02:00 PM

http://www.ksat.com/news/15935275/detail.html

DNA testing was ordered to help determine how the children and adults of the compound are related. Child welfare officials say solving those relationships has been difficult because of evasive or changing answers.

Other challenges are families with half brothers and sisters, as well as reports of marriages between first cousins. Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said DNA testing can easily deal with these types of complexities.

"It's reasonable to say the information (from testing) will give full proof documentation" as to which parents belong to which children, he said.

Although the many unique family ties found in the sect will probably add a level of difficulty for DNA analysts in determining parentage, Beaudet said the added complexity is still "not a significant concern."

A certain number of DNA markers -- segments of the DNA with specific genetic characteristics -- are tested to determine if two people are related. Beaudet said that if any uncertainties arise, analysts simply test additional markers.

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 02:08 PM

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4686862&page=1

Lawyer Calls State's Custody of Kids Illegal

Polygamist Sect Cries Out After Judge Orders Extension of Custody and DNA Tests

On Thursday, testimony in the giant custody case revealed that more than 20 girls taken from the polygamist Texas ranch became pregnant or gave birth before they were 16 or 17.

The testimony came from Angie Voss, a supervisor of investigations at the Texas Department of Child Protective Services, who was part of the weeklong raid by Texas authorities of the polygamist compound and was relying on the interviews and records taken from the sect's compound. "There is a culture of young girls being pregnant by older men," Voss testified under cross-examination.

Voss said that girls from FLDS had told child welfare interviewers that there is "no age too young to be married and they wanted to have as many babies as they could."

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 02:17 PM

New Times staff writer John Dougherty spent months examining the secretive, isolated polygamist Mormon communites that straddle the Arizona-Utah border north of the Grand Canyon. He found a culture of sexual abuse and psychological torment as well as the unlawful expenditure of millions of dollars in public money. And it's all been going on with little attempt by the state to help the residents or put an end to the fraud.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/specialReports/view/212740

and an interesting blog:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2008/04/short_creek_redux_colorado_cit.php

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 02:38 PM

FDLS Websites:

http://captivefldschildren.org/

http://fldstruth.org/

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 03:38 PM

ELDORADO - Only a few people from the YFZ Ranch had appeared for DNA testing by 10:30 a.m. at the collection point near the Schleicher County Courthouse.

Three men who appeared to be polygamist sect members entered the sampling area at 10:15 a.m. One left at 10:30 and denied all interview requests, so there was no way to immediately verify whether he in fact submitted to the DNA sampling.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/apr/22/dna-sampling-of-ranch-parents-starts-in-eldorado/

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 03:45 PM

The agency said results from the tests will take 30 to 50 days to process for children and parents from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch near Eldorado.

If it takes the full 50 days, the results will not be available until June 9, four days after the 60-day custody hearings must be completed.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/apr/21/breaking-news-dna-results-on-sect-children-may-5/

and

Women and children staying at San Angelo Coliseum will receive better access to their attorneys and be given private daily worship times under a pair of rulings made this afternoon by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther.

Walther convened a hearing at 10 a.m. today to deal with a stack of motions and other paperwork filed over the weekend and early today in regard to the removal of 416 children from the YFZ Ranch. The children were removed in a dayslong raid begun April 3 on suspicion of widespread sexual abuse and forced marriage.

Walther demurred on a restraining order request that would have prohibited Child Protective Services from removing nursing children from their mothers during the upcoming foster placement process.

"These most private matters should be handled in an individual manner," Walther said, telling attorneys they should negotiate on a case-by-case basis with CPS in cases where the agency cannot find placements for a mother and her infant.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/apr/21/breaking-newsdna-testing-starts-as-attorneys-to/

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 03:58 PM

Prayers: Request baffles LDS official

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272746,00.html

and

FLDS children being moved in Texas as DNA testing continues

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Buses filled with FLDS children continue to leave the makeshift shelter at the San Angelo Coliseum.
It's unknown if the children are being taken to foster homes or where the buses are going.

The coliseum, where 437 children taken from the Fundamental LDS Church's YFZ Ranch are being held, is locked down. Some attorneys are reportedly locked inside the coliseum

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272825,00.html

LinasK

04-22-2008, 04:16 PM

By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/22/2008 12:53:38 PM MDT
Posted: 12:53 PM- SAN ANGELO, Texas - The San Angelo, Texas, pavilion and coliseum where 437 FLDS children have been held is under lockdown today.
Attorneys, Salvation Army workers and even a spokesman for Texas Child Protective Services are being kept out.
A small shuttle bus was seen leaving the area with small children, but it was not known where they were being taken. And a car was seen leaving with a police car. more at link:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9014979

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 04:18 PM

Ousted member defends FLDS

Dan Barlow was exiled from the church and his family; now he's worried about their fate in Texas

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9010960

LinasK

04-22-2008, 04:21 PM

Ousted member defends FLDS

Dan Barlow was exiled from the church and his family; now he's worried about their fate in Texas

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9010960
:boohoo::boohoo::boohoo::boohoo::boohoo: What about the children's civil rights not to be abused?????:furious:

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 06:24 PM

ELDORADO - Accusing the state of using excessive tactics and seizing their children, a handful of male followers of a West Texas polygamous sect submitted to DNA testing this morning in an effort to win back their children.

and

Rod Parker, the spokesman for the sect members, said he expects all the adults to undergo DNA testing.

Child welfare authorities said the children likely will not go to traditional foster care families but go to larger residential settings so siblings can remain together. Some have up to 20 siblings, said Greg Cunningham, spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services.

``They won't be going to a two-bedroom home with a mom and a dad. We're trying to keep them in larger groups,'' Cunningham said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042208.polygamistsdnatest.en.8c278418.html

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 07:28 PM

Nancy Grace Transcript from last night:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/21/ng.01.html

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 07:50 PM

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9014979

The movement came after Judge Barbara Walther issued an order setting destinations and explaining how the children will be placed.
Walther ordered that mothers who are minors will be placed with their babies, with pregnant minors in the same location.
Children under 12 months will be placed in foster homes with their siblings who are under 5, she said, and every attempt will be made to place [other] siblings together.
Boys 8 and older will be placed at the Cal Farley Boys Ranch northwest of Amarillo, where 27 adolescent boys already have been staying.

and

Walther's order said the specialized needs of the mothers and children have been shared with the care providers, as well as their background and cultural characteristics. Texas Children Protection Services workers will be arranging meetings with those facilities to take care of medical and educational needs, the judge said.
The facilities are located in Amarillo, Abilene, Waxahachie, Houston and elsewhere in the state.

SewingDeb

04-22-2008, 07:52 PM

Polygamist paternity: Nevada man drives 1,200 miles for FLDS DNA test

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9013410

SuziQ

04-22-2008, 08:08 PM

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9016035

A day after a Texas judge asked the LDS Church to help monitor prayer sessions of women and children from a fundamentalist polygamous group, a church spokesman said doing so would be inappropriate.
Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that the church has heard about the judge's request only through news reports and therefore has "no clear understanding of what, if anything, we are being invited to do."
In an e-mail statement, Trotter said it would be "erroneous to base any request for assistance from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the basis that our beliefs and practices are close to those of this polygamous group because they are not."
He also acknowledged that such a request would not be fair, either to the polygamous FLDS, which "long ago chose a different path from ours. In fact, many in these isolated communities view us with some hostility as part of the outside world they have rejected."

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 10:23 AM

Their lawyers say many were reluctant to offer samples for testing they believe is invasive and unnecessary.

"We've told them to cooperate, but there are a lot of people who are reluctant," said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Legal Aid attorneys who represent dozens of mothers. "There's a perception there that the state will be using it to separate them" rather than reunite them with their children.

Susan Hays, an attorney for a toddler, said some fathers may have left the state, fearing that the tests are really designed to help prosecutors make criminal abuse cases.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/598888.html

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 10:28 AM

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 11:05 AM

Forbidden Fruit

Inbreeding among polygamists along the Arizona-Utah border is producing a caste of severely retarded and deformed children

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/full

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 12:24 PM

Utah probing call alleging abuse in Hildale

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Utah Attorney General's Office has been asked to investigate a phone call alleging abuse in the polygamist border town of Hildale that appears to be similar to calls that sparked the raid on the YFZ Ranch.
The Division of Child and Family Services declined to give specific details about the phone call or when it was made but confirmed it claimed child abuse and neglect. Like all calls, DCFS caseworkers investigated it.

"What we got was some information that this may or may not be related to an existing criminal matter," said Liz Sollis, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services, which oversees DCFS.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272959,00.html

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 01:51 PM

Arizona has about half the world's population of known fumarase deficiency patients," said Dr. Theodore Tarby, a pediatric neurologist who has treated many of the children at Arizona clinics under contracts with the state.

"It exists in a certain percentage of the broader population but once you get a tendency to inbreed you're inbreeding people who have the gene there, so you markedly increase the risk of developing the condition," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0727298120070614?

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 02:16 PM

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9026403

Four empty buses this morning pulled into the San Angelo Coliseum where FLDS children now in state custody are being housed.

The buses were being inspected by state troopers as of 9:45 a.m., and could be there to take more children to foster homes and shelters located throughout the state.

and

Walther is scheduled to meet with Texas Child Protective Services officials in court this afternoon for an update on the foster care placements.

SewingDeb

04-23-2008, 02:24 PM

Video: Flora Jessop on her escape from the FDLS

http://fora.tv/2007/12/05/Carolyn_Jessop_on_her_Escape_from_the_FLDS

Spydernweb

04-23-2008, 02:42 PM

In regards to the legal issue of Can Authorities act on another crime while investigating another crime the Supreme Court has just ruled:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080423/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_search;_ylt=AsS9jPvuBWSgfj0EcUsIi7es0NUE

Newest update on the kids from the raid:

This is from the noon news today in the Dallas/Ft Worth area

http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=238490

Hugs,
Spyder

mollymalone

04-23-2008, 04:00 PM

Southern Law Poverty Center:
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/index.php?s=FLDS&submit=
It was on the basis of that unvarnished racism, preached as official FLDS doctrine, that the Southern Poverty Law Center began listing FLDS as a hate group in 2005

"so far none of the dozens of stories and broadcast segments about Texas authorities taking 219 children and women from the YFZ compound into protective custody have even mentioned the fact that along with advocating child brides and plural marriage, FLDS doctrine is venomous with anti-black racism."

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=879
Column on right side of the page -audio of Warren Jeffs speaking
on various subjects.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=342

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/10792/audio-clips-reveal-flds-leaders-racist-teachings
Audio clips reveal FLDS leader’s racist teachings from the "The Eldorado Success."
Warren & Rulon Jeffs

The center in Montgomery, Ala., describes a hate group as one with beliefs or practices that attack
or malign an entire class of people, usually based on characteristics such as skin color or religion.

"Attorney Rodney Parker of Salt Lake City, who represents the church, said Jeffs’ remarks come from a strict interpretation of the early teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The theological discussion does not equate to racism, he said. These people are the fundamentalists,” Parker said. “They take the teachings of the early Mormon prophets literally and seriously.” He added: “I’ve never heard anyone in the church promote racism or discrimination. They promote tolerance.”

barb0301

04-23-2008, 04:11 PM

Link to child placement order:

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/judgeorder.pdf

mollymalone

04-23-2008, 04:14 PM

Photos and Video of the FLDS site at Eldorado from 2005-2007 -2008

The main page of this website: http://web.sccn2.net/flds/

2005-2007
http://web.sccn2.net/flds/More-Pics.htm
I release all rights to the photos I have created on this site, and consider all public domain. Use as you wish. I will only publish photos I created and link to others that may be copyrighted, with the exception of the satellite shot.

2008
http://web.sccn2.net/flds/02-19-08.htm

Warren Jeff's house: http://web.sccn2.net/flds/images/IMG_0945.JPG
http://web.sccn2.net/flds/images/IMG_138.JPG
(back of it)

mollymalone

04-23-2008, 06:01 PM

2005 a woman from FLDS answered questions:
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9899/flds-woman-defends-groups-beliefs

Another member of the FLDS responded covering such issues as child marriage, welfare, sexual abuse, Warren Jeffs and his prophesies, his spies, the racism he preaches and other issues.

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/10406/flds-member-shares-concerns
by Nameless and Still Alive

"This talking is precisely why it’s imperative for Warren to get the people separated and isolated into different compounds to keep control of their minds. People that converse with one another are dangerous to Warren’s plan." "Then he could isolate them, divide them, and conquer them."

"I was there and witnessed it and am still witnessing the amazing ability of our people to twist and bend the truth into every configuration imaginable so they can believe in the work and still follow Warren, which, to me, is the same as believing a lie and being damned."

"In this article, I’ve told of some of the inner workings of the FLDS church that are private and sacred. I’m sure now that you are going to have to join in a special prayer for God to execute me, as you have done in the past towards other individually named apostates. I’m telling you, Warren Jeffs no longer has power over my mind. I have released myself from his control.
If he figures out who I am and has me killed (blood atonement) for telling church secrets, at least I die free and that can’t be taken from me. To be honest with you though, I’m not yet ready for Warren’s idea of “renewal.” I love my family."

mollymalone

04-24-2008, 02:29 AM

MORE BOOKS:

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
by Elissa Wall

When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back (Hardcover)
by Stephen Singular

"Colorado City and the Underground Railroad"
Award-winning documentary by Journalist Mike Watkiss

"Inside the World of Warren Jeffs," by Dr. Carole A. Western

SewingDeb

04-24-2008, 02:49 AM

Reid asks AG to review federal efforts regarding polygamous communities

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695273157,00.html

SewingDeb

04-24-2008, 10:04 AM

http://outofpolygamy.wordpress.com/

Trino

04-24-2008, 10:49 AM

On Tuesday, at least 50 adults from the ranch submitted to DNA tests, according to the attorney general's office.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042308.01A.polygamist.3bf8e82.html

Glad to hear they are complying.

It will be interesting to follow the impacts of foster care.

I like this guy's comment, that, well, if they eat processed or junk food, so be it. If the possibility exists that they will be placed in more permanent state care, they had better get used to mainstream culture.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/23/polygamist.retreat.ap/index.html

In addition, CPS has sent instructions to the foster homes to feed the youngsters fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken, rice and other foods that may have been grown on the 1,700-acre ranch.

"They don't eat a lot of processed food and we're not going to encourage that," Pulliam said, but noted that if the children want to eat processed or junk food, no one is going to stop them.

Floh

04-24-2008, 11:32 PM

Bump.

mollymalone

04-25-2008, 08:00 PM

ANOTHER BOOK

God’s Brothel by Andrea Moore-Emmett

golfmom

04-26-2008, 08:42 AM

Dated 2005 -- Extensive article detailing the history and uncovering of ownership of the Eldorado Compound.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A281915

SewingDeb

04-26-2008, 10:52 AM

Texas appeals court cancels hearing on relocation of FLDS children

http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_9060445

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
COOPER: Blood atonement?

KRAKAUER: Blood atonement, it's called. It was most prevalent in Utah in the mid-19th century, in the 1850s, 1860s, when Utah was at war with the country. And the Mormon church believed at that time, and the fundamentalists believe today, that some crime, some sins were so great, they had to be atoned by spilling the sinner's blood on the ground. And so -- and if you kill someone who deserves to be blood atoned, if you blood atone them, as they say, then that's no crime.

and

MARK SHURTLEFF, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL: They hate the government. They will bleed it. They will take everything they can from it through welfare, through tax evasion and fraud.

and

(On camera): Here's how it works, the men have multiple wives, but only one marriage is recognized as legal by the state of Utah. So the rest of the wives claim to be single moms, struggling to raise a houseful of dependents. That makes them eligible for government aid. So they collect welfare -- lots of it. And it's all legal.

SHURTLEFF: More than 65 percent of the people are on welfare, they're on food stamps, compared to about 6 percent in the general populations.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/11/acd.02.html

SewingDeb

04-26-2008, 11:00 AM

Sect Children Face Another World, but Still No TV

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/us/26raid.html?_r=1&ex=1366862400&en=79123a7d4e41a7a8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Old article:

Jeffs, UEP told to pay up

http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/1,5143,660201785,00.html

SewingDeb

04-26-2008, 11:02 AM

Aug. 31, 2006

Elaine Jeffs on 360….

It’s really a closed, secret society in America. We have been trying to understand the life inside the sect for months now.

Our next two guests know what it’s like up close. Elaine Jeffs is Warren Jeffs’ sister. She grew up in the sect with her brother. She — she left. She was 41 years old when she escaped, finally kidnapped some of her kids.

Filmmaker Laurie Allen grew up in a different sect. She, too, broke away, and made a documentary about polygamy called “Banking on Heaven.”

http://insidecable.blogsome.com/2006/08/31/elaine-jeffs-on-360/

mollymalone

04-26-2008, 10:18 PM

http://www.agreka.com/Colorado_City_Polygamists_3.htm
"There is evidence that Warren Jeffs has at least two other developing compounds as well: one near Benjamin Hills, Mexico, south of Nogales in the state of Sonora; the other near Encinada, Baja, south of Tiajuana."

mollymalone

04-26-2008, 10:20 PM

http://www.azfamily.com/sharedconten...my/index2.html
A number of other interviews/videos down the page of former FLDS members and others.

Excellent video and interview by Mike Watkiss (Within the clip there are scenes of large groups of the FLDS with lots of children.)
http://www.azfamily.com/sharedconten...1448&catId=245
Ruth Stubbs four years later
February 16th, 2006Mike Watkiss interviews Ruth Stubbs, a young mother who fled her polygamist police officer husband.

mollymalone

04-26-2008, 10:23 PM

http://www.beyondborders.org/Publications/BB%20newsletter%20Winter%2005%20Final.pdf

""Bountiful women are treated like "sexual collectibles." They are frequently traded across the Canada-US border to suit the needs of the men in either country."Another women's rights insult, the "Law of Chastity", prohibits women to have intercourse other than when they are ovulating. This leads to complex mating charts for the more spousally affluent husbands."

"Since the celestial wives of Bountiful are not legally married by the government, they all register as single mothers and receive the child tax credit. Moreover, American girls shipped to Canada apply to immigrate here based on Section 25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Act which allows females who give birth here to become permanent residents. Then they are eligible for health care, daycare subsidies, welfare, Canada Pension, Old Age pension, Canada child tax benefit and the BC family bonus."

mollymalone

04-26-2008, 10:27 PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5729137.htm
This abuse of the women trickles down to the children in a very predictable way.
To the men of FLDS and the outside world, the women of FLDS appear very docile and controlled. But when the women are alone with the children, it is common for one woman to brutalize the children of a rival wife. This is done to exact payback for a punishment or humiliation suffered at the hands of a man who was instigated by the rival wife. The innocent children then have no way of knowing when they will be punished, nor will they have any warning. This is emotional abuse, and we know that this form of abuse has long-term effects.

mollymalone

04-26-2008, 11:45 PM

http://search.utcourts.gov/htsearch....s=jeffs;page=1

Court Documents - UEP, Jason Williams claim against the FLDS, Warren Jeffs hearings

http://www.freewillblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5712/
photo of Warren Jeffs home in colorado city complete with concrete wall around it.

Seven

04-28-2008, 01:21 AM

Welcome to Captive FLDS Children

This site was created by the FLDS people to help the innocent
children that were living at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

http://www.captivefldschildren.org/

I find "created by the FLDS people" strange.
When we know the females (not "people"?)
aren't allowed on the internet in the first place! :rolleyes:

anyway, it has pics and videos, etc.
It's their side of the story.

mysteriew

04-28-2008, 03:58 AM

At least three children taken from a polygamous sect's ranch are in the hospital and attorneys for their mothers say they have received little or no information about their conditions.
Attorneys for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) are working to identify the children, the hospitals, and to arrange for their mothers to visit the children.
"We can't seem to get anyone on the phone with authority to make that happen and the mothers don't even know the seriousness of the situation," said Amanda Chisholm, a TRLA attorney.
The legal aid society, which represents 48 mothers, said one 2-year-old child lost a severe amount of weight while staying at the San Angelo Coliseum.
TRLA said the organization was told two days ago that the child was in shock and lethargic, but has received no new information since then about where the child is or regarding her current health situation.
http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_9075298

Floh

04-28-2008, 04:02 AM

Flora Jessop: Done keeping the priesthood's secrets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BLkJRFSVbw&feature=related

golfmom

04-28-2008, 07:40 PM

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/32701

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Here's what's known about Dr. Lloyd H. Barlow:

-- He's licensed to practice medicine in Utah, in Arizona and -- since June 2005 -- in Texas.

-- He has no disciplinary actions against him in the states in which he's licensed to practice.

-- He operates a medical clinic at the YFZ Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamist compound raided by Texas authorities beginning April 3.

------------
A physician has a heightened duty to report suspected child abuse under Texas law, he said. Professionals must report it to authorities within 48 hours.

Anyone who suspects but doesn't report child abuse can be held liable for a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000, according to the Department of Family and Protective Services.

golfmom

04-28-2008, 11:25 PM

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRHjN4hpNKBhfYyAsR4DDo4QD90B77NG0

A total of 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 are in state custody after a raid 3 1/2 weeks ago at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Of those girls, 31 either have children or are pregnant, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar. He didn't specify how many are pregnant.
..............

Of those 463 children, 250 are girls and 213 are boys. Children 13 and younger are about evenly split — 197 girls and 196 boys — but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range.

mysteriew

04-29-2008, 04:51 PM

An army of lawyers and case workers are working to sort out the legal and social services issues in the case of the removal of hundreds of children from the Eldorado polygamist sect ranch.

Reporters Mary Flood and Terri Langford consulted experts to get answers to some questions in this case.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5737874.html

Floh

04-30-2008, 04:51 AM

Larry King Talk and look into polygamist ranch, all from a couple of days after the story broke, early April.

Larry King Talk and look into polygamist ranch Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAELHHgabc&feature=related

Larry King Talk and look into polygamist ranch Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T0-k_eueT4&feature=related

Larry King Talk and look into polygamist ranch Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYNEAiZU0tE&feature=related

Larry King Talk and look into polygamist ranch Part 4

Marilyn's/Unibrow's tour of her home - highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUpzfncnLeU

Floh

04-30-2008, 06:46 PM

Flora Jessop's poems:

http://helpthechildbrides.com/stories/poetry/poetry.htm

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:26 PM

Merrill Jessop is in charge of YFZ Ranch, from which CPS removed the children. Allegedly his wives reside there with him.

From ESCAPE by Carolyn Jessop

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/02/children-of-polygamy-broken-bones-broken-spirits/
Wendell, Cathleen's son, who was not quite two, was asleep in his crib. He was cranky and fussy after he woke up. Merril told Barbara to take Wendell into the next room and discipline him. Barbara took Wendell into the room where she had beaten Patrick and let him have it. When Barbara beat a baby she would typically spank him until he was blue in the face from screaming. Then she would stop, order the baby to stop screaming, and start beating him again when the hysterical child continued to scream. Eventually the baby would collapse from exhaustion when he was too weak to cry. Wendell's pitiful screams went on into the night.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:27 PM

http://www1.epinions.com/content_407516253828

Carolyn Jessop's life with Merril was never very pleasant. He was an unkind, abusive man who demanded strict obedience from his wives. Merril also had an abusive wife named Barbara who was apparently his favorite. Barbara had special privileges that the other wives did not have. She dominated the women and their children, often pitting them against each other. Merril allowed it because, as Jessop explains it, Barbara was the only wife Merril actually loved. Consequently, he always took her side and she got away with murder.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:31 PM

http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy765.html

She wasn't long married before Merril let it slip that there had been a mix-up. He had asked the head of the church to arrange a marriage for him and, against the rules, he had suggested a specific wife. He had picked Carolyn's sister, who had long blonde hair but he had got the names mixed up.

It wasn't long before Carolyn learnt that part of Merril's plan of marrying into her family was so that her father would drop a law suit he had against him. As soon as Merril made Carolyn his wife, her father did indeed drop the case. There were rules in the FLDS, but Merril was a law unto himself.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:32 PM

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/article713323.ece
PHOTO of Merrill Jessop and 5 wives, Carolyn Jessop on the right.
They all have their hands to their chest and are flanking him.

Merrill's six wives had given him 54 children.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:34 PM

http://www.childbrides.org/texas_YFZ_after_the_storm.html
I'm my own Grandpa
The Success learned this week that Merrill Jessop, the man who is reportedly overseeing work at the YFZ Ranch, has very close ties to FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. According to sources in Colorado City, Arizona, Jessop is Jeffs father-in-law and son-in-law. The two men reportedly married each others daughter in a double-ring ceremony held in Caliente, Nevada in 2002 or 2003.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:36 PM

http://www.myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Pages/YFZ081904a.html
PHOTO of Merrill Jessop being served a summons

"It took nearly an hour, but Merrill Jessop and Paul Allred finally came to the gate to meet with Doran and Brower." "Brower then gave the summons to Jessop in his capacity as a church official." "But Jessop denied that the YFZ Ranch is associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying that instead the property is owned by private businessment.

mollymalone

05-02-2008, 10:37 PM

http://texaspolygamy.blogspot.com/2006/04/merril-jessop-abandons-wife.html

Aunt Nita Jessop was sent away from her family and grandchildren through the regime of Warren Jeffs. She has been with Merrill Jessop since she was young, and now that she is old and ill health, she is sent off with no one to care for her except for a compassionate teen-age grandson. "Julia Thomas 80+years old, kicked out. She believes in Winston (Blackmore) not Warren

LinasK

05-09-2008, 03:16 AM

10:56 PM CDT on Thursday, May 8, 2008

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
eramshaw@dallasnews.com YEARNING FOR ZION RANCH, Texas – Emptiness echoes off of this polygamist community's once-lush lawns, now parched and brown.
Earthmovers and excavators sleep silently over vacant quarries and construction sites. And the schoolhouse sits frozen in time, its half-finished spelling tests and chalky blackboard lessons a reminder of the religious sect's absent children.

Five weeks since state authorities swept this West Texas ranch and moved more than 400 children into foster care, the prospect of life returning to this community looks bleak. Mothers have scattered across the state, moving into motels to be close to their children's foster homes. Fathers have returned to the Utah-Arizona border where their Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is based, jittery that their other families will be targeted.
Just a few dozen elderly women and young men – plus a handful of sect leaders sent from Utah to manage the legal crisis – remain at the ranch, a fraction of the estimated 700 people living there before the raid. more at link:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/050908dntexpolygamists.3893104.html

mollymalone

05-09-2008, 11:13 PM

http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:J_R7N3SVOf8J:wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/04/forgotten-children-of-flds-polygamist.html+FLDS+children&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&ie=UTF-8
**See Post by Jay Beswick
"Jennifer Dobner with associated Press caught Rodney Parker the FLDS attorney coaching the YFZ women before the media came in."

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700224522,00.html
Warren Jeffs seeks dismissal of incest charges in AZ.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/263240/
Critics charge that the women were coached into saying only what church leaders allowed. Parker said the women were told to speak only if they wanted, and to keep their focus on the plight of the children.

It's unclear how much openness church leaders will continue to allow. Parker said that he encourages it, but that Texas lawyers now working with the church may advise otherwise.

mollymalone

05-09-2008, 11:17 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/us/09cnd-polygamy.html?hp
Utah’s attorney general, Mark L. Shurtleff, sat before a room of perhaps 400 people, most of them fundamentalist polygamists, at a town hall meeting here on Thursday night. He asked for a show of hands. How many people, he wanted to know, were related to the children who were seized last month in a raid in Texas in an investigation of possible marriage and abuse of child brides? Scores of hands shot up. Then Mr. Shurtleff asked his follow-up: How many of you would be willing to take those children into your homes? Without a moment’s hesitation, the same hands rose.

"We think it would be wonderful if that were to happen, and we’re going to continue to try to encourage that,” Mr. Shurtleff said, as the room exploded with applause.

Last I heard, Texas was in charge of making those decisions, not him.

mollymalone

05-09-2008, 11:20 PM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700224379,00.html
A legal advocacy group has filed a brief in the FLDS case, warning the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals against making "hasty judgments" that could violate parental rights and trample religious freedoms. The friend of the court brief was filed by the Liberty Legal Institute, which describes itself as an organization committed to the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights in Texas.

But the brief argues that should Texas provide proof that sexual abuse of minors occurred at the YFZ Ranch, that legally trumps religious freedoms protections and parental rights

mollymalone

05-09-2008, 11:29 PM

Polygamy's Rape of Rachael Strong: Protected Environment for Predators
John R. Llewellyn
http://books.google.com/books?id=3Gz0jFdpU88C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=Warren+Jeffs+wives&source=web&ots=W-9qJnNp7W&sig=Fm-GiV0KZIitakgHR6g_W8z9Iks&hl=en#PPA120,M1

God Vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law By Marci Hamilton
BRENT JEFFS
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ox4_vqFCjcEC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Warren+Jeffs+wives&source=web&ots=84TeZWKHwW&sig=rMOZLMpw2zomAwo8ZWTLta2htyM&hl=en

A Teenager's Tears: When Parents Convert to Polygamy By John R. Llewellyn
MANN ACT
http://books.google.com/books?id=wqdcA-acJ1EC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=Warren+Jeffs+wives&source=web&ots=dJNd1gB9K8&sig=_7REa14sx69UFMRkaVkFmRdROzc&hl=en

mollymalone

05-10-2008, 12:00 AM

http://www.childrenshealthcare.org/polygamous.htm
Jessop also believes many FLDS girls are improperly committed to mental institutions to keep them from acting on independent ideas. Jessop says she was threatened with commitment to a mental institution if she refused to marry the man chosen for her.
In Utah and Arizona, children can be committed to mental institutions on school counselors’ signatures, Jessop says.

She knows of 15 FLDS women committed to the Guidance Center, a state-accredited psychiatric hospital in Flagstaff, Arizona. A hospital record for one woman stated she was being discharged from her fourth commitment because she “atoned” for her bad behavior toward her husband, Jessop says.

faw720

05-10-2008, 07:20 PM

http://www.gosanangelo.com is the web site for the San Angelo Standard Times newspaper. Today they have an article on some of the children who have been placed in Corpus Christi. After you read the entire story, there is a section for people to make comments. I was totally astounded that lots of postings were against the state & for the FLDS. Obviously the FLDS have started a letter writing campaign & I thought they didn't believe in computers.:confused: Anyway some of you might want to check out the site to keep tabs of what is being said locally.

SewingDeb

05-10-2008, 10:34 PM

Raid on Sect in Texas Rattles Other Polygamists

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08raid.html

Texas: FLDS mothers in a 'conspiracy of silence,' cannot challenge children's removal

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9207759

Texas will immunize FLDS children

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9209950

mollymalone

05-11-2008, 01:01 PM

FLDS Beliefs 101
http://flds101.blogspot.com/2008/05/flds-beliefs-101-gentiles-or-outsiders.html

mollymalone

05-12-2008, 12:42 AM

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/050808dnmexicomormons.dc0e95bf.html
Polygamists from Texas unwelcome in Mexico Mormon community

"The community has worked hard for generations to gain acceptance here.
Though polygamy is outlawed in Mexico just as in the U.S. about 15 percent of the community still maintains polygamous relationships, with men getting around the law by taking on what they term spiritual wives. Even so, their message to those wanting to seek legal refuge in Mexico is clear: Don't even think about moving here.

The last thing we need here are a bunch of outlaws, said Lillian Tucker, 40, a mother of 18 who practices polygamy, but is against forcing minors into marriage. I don't recommend anyone that's committing a crime or that's using religion to become a pedophile to come down here, because they're not going to be welcome.

mollymalone

05-12-2008, 11:27 PM

http://www.swtexaslive.com/node/6857
Richard Holm

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700225075,00.html
Dan Fischer - Asked by FLDS to assist in finding alternative arrangements for children.

Pepper

05-13-2008, 10:09 AM

http://www.examiner.com/a-1387835~Second_sect_baby_born_in_state_custody.htm l

Second baby born in custody.

mollymalone

05-14-2008, 11:40 PM

(Comments section of the Texas Polygamy Blog http://texaspolygamy.blogspot.com/2008/04/people-search.html from a previous archived entry - you'll have to scroll down to find this post)

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11081631&postID=112119478449611248&isPopup=true

"What is hard to fathom for outsiders is the fact that insiders are taught that the children they bring into this world do not actually belong to them. They belong to the priesthood."

"Your" child is baptized at the age of eight and from that point on the child has "freely chosen" the laws of the priesthood, to live a Celestial Law, and to honor and obey God through His Prieshood (the prophet) on earth. That child no longer has any choices regarding what direction his life will take ever after that; they are completely given away at the age of eight."

Namaste
7/13/2005 8:19 PM

mollymalone

05-15-2008, 10:09 PM

http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_9271334

AUSTIN, Texas - "Texas Gov. Rick Perry voiced strong support for Child Protective Services officials..."

"John Kight, chairman of Hill Country Community MHMR board, said he has been rebuffed in his attempts to talk with Perry but he is still trying to arrange a meeting. He said MHMR caregivers reported "appalling behavior" that included flashlights being shined in eyes of mothers at night and CPS caseworkers repeatedly telling lies to the women. The governor's spokeswoman said the complaints were released to the news media before state officials were notified. "Considering that DFPS (the Texas Department of Family Protective Services) had to ask for those reports after reading about them in the newspaper might suggest that he (Kight) might have his own agenda," Piferrer said."

mollymalone

05-15-2008, 10:14 PM

mysteriew

05-17-2008, 12:02 AM

When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.

But in the past week, the state has twice been forced to admit "girls" who gave birth while in state custody are actually adults. One was 22 and claims she showed state officials a Utah birth certificate shortly after she and more than 400 minors were seized from the west Texas ranch in an April raid.

snip....Jeffs' lawyers want the incest counts dropped, arguing that prosecutors in Mohave County cannot pursue those charges along with the sexual conduct counts. A judge is considering the request.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRHjN4hpNKBhfYyAsR4DDo4QD90N2T8G0

Pepper

05-17-2008, 12:18 AM

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9270830
"A federal appeals court revived a portion of a lawsuit that claims a man was not rehired at a cabinet company because he quit a southern Utah polygamous sect. Some evidence is on tape."

"A federal judge in Utah barred the taped conversations from evidence, calling them hearsay. But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver thisweek said the tapes were "direct evidence" that raised a genuine concern about the reason not to rehire Fischer. Fischer's attorney, Jim Stewart, said the rehiring claim can be heard again in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City."

Carolyn Jessop writes about Dan Fisher in her book 'Escape.' Fisher or Fischer is a very wealthy dentist that invented tooth whitening stuff. He has a foundation dedicated to helping the "Lost Boys" and others leaving the FLDS. Carolyn and her family lived in one of his guest houses for a time during her transition to the "real" world. Just FYI.

mysteriew

05-17-2008, 12:36 AM

Lawyers for Warren Jeffs asked an Arizona judge Friday to drop incest charges against the imprisoned polygamist leader.

Jeffs, who was convicted in a similar case last year in Utah, is charged in Mohave County as an accomplice with four counts each of incest and sexual conduct. The charges stem from two arranged marriages between teenage girls and their older male relatives, one of whom was in his 50s.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5786489.html

mysteriew

05-18-2008, 12:07 AM

Hearings begin Monday
Attorneys want FLDS children treated as individuals in court

Cases for seven children from one family, five from another and at least two fathered by polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs are among those set for court Monday as the next phase begins in the largest child welfare action in United States history.
In all, attorneys for at least 35 children or their parents will converge on the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo, Texas, for the first day of mandatory status hearings that continue through June 4.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9295315

mysteriew

05-18-2008, 12:13 AM

Ex-FLDS child bride's book shouldn't interfere with prosecution, attorney says

A lawyer for the star witness in the criminal case against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs said her new book should not be allowed to interfere with the prosecution of her ex-husband.
In a statement to the Deseret News on Saturday, Elissa Wall's attorney, Roger Hoole, said his client maintains that Allen Steed "was both a victim of Warren Jeffs and a perpetrator of child abuse.

"Although Elissa has a First Amendment right to tell her story, Allen Steed is presumed innocent and no one familiar with 'Stolen Innocence' should be allowed on any jury in which the alleged crimes are tried," Hoole said in his statement.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700226893,00.html

mysteriew

05-18-2008, 12:22 AM

Change your ways or lose your children, Texas to tell mothers in polygamist sect

Some lawyers believe this could mean women would never be able to return to the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, and would have to choose between some of their beliefs and their children.

But other experts said adults who have tolerated underage "marriages" of girls to older men and apparently have cast out teenage boys might have forfeited all rights to raise their children – and are lucky to be given a shot at regaining their youngsters.

In advance of court hearings that begin Monday, Child Protective Services has drafted 10 goals and 14 tasks that parents will have to work toward to regain custody of their children.

CPS is proposing to give parents until next April to "provide a home free of persons who have or will abuse" children and "demonstrate the ability to protect the child[ren] from sexual abuse." The children will remain in state custody until a judge is satisfied that the parents have complied.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-polygamists_15tex.ART.State.Edition2.46911f3.html

mysteriew

05-18-2008, 12:24 AM

mysteriew

05-19-2008, 08:00 PM

Two children of jailed "prophet" Warren Steed Jeffs are among the hundreds of children removed from a polygamist ranch by child welfare authorities, court officials said Monday.

Court hearings in the historic Texas polygamist child custody case have resumed, with cases going on in five courtrooms. Texas child welfare officials removed more than 400 children from a polygamist ranch in April.

The hearings are being held for parents to review documents called "family service plans" that dictate the conditions under which they can regain custody, lawyers said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/19/polygamist.retreat/?iref=mpstoryview

mollymalone

05-19-2008, 09:13 PM

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4853631&page=1
Excerpt of Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall

mollymalone

05-19-2008, 09:14 PM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700227316,00.html
"Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has put the Utah Supreme Court on notice he plans to appeal his conviction last year of two counts of rape as an accomplice.
According to court docket information, attorneys for Jeffs last week filed a notice of appeal with the supreme court. The notice is expected to be followed by a legal brief by Jeffs outlining why he thinks his conviction should be overturned."

"The 52-year-old leader of the FLDS Church claims his rights were violated when one juror was dismissed and an alternate juror was seated after 13 hours of deliberations had already passed." "Attorneys for Jeffs say it was possible that the jury had already reached a verdict on the first count and had indicated to the court they were deadlocked on the second count when the juror was dismissed."

mysteriew

05-19-2008, 09:49 PM

It has been more than six weeks since Texas authorities took a Canadian girl into custody during a raid of the isolated compound of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

However, child-protection workers are still trying to figure out how old she is as well as verifying her citizenship. Questions are also being raised about why she was inTexas.

A former church member familiar with the Canadian family has speculated the girl may have been at the compound in Eldorado, Tex., for up to two years, and may have been in a so-called celestial marriage with an older church member.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080519.POLYGAMY19/TPStory/National

mysteriew

05-19-2008, 10:26 PM

State to Lay Out Steps for Sect Parents to Regain Children

During a series of hearings beginning today, Texas child protection workers are expected to tell a judge that members of a West Texas polygamous sect must renounce an alleged decades-long practice of marrying underage girls to older men if they want to regain custody of their children.

Texas officials will present a series of steps that Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints parents will have to follow in order for their children to be returned, including proving they can provide a home free from potential child abusers and demonstrating the ability to protect children from abuse.

"You can't be in bigamist marriages, and the other thing you can't do is marry off young teenagers to very old men," said Scott McCown, a former Texas district court judge.

"If they are not willing to give that up, the state's position is going to be that the children are never going to go home. That's going to be state's non-negotiable bottom line," McCown said.

But this is not the first time the sect's practices have been challenged by state authorities, and it was unclear what the long-term impact will be on the polygamous group, which has been raided by authorities in several states four times in the last 75 years.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4873901&page=1

mysteriew

05-20-2008, 09:24 PM

Arthur L. Barlow has never stepped foot on the YFZ Ranch and he left the polygamous sect that resides there four years ago.
But he is now being asked by Texas to comply with a family service plan as part of returning children taken from the ranch to their parents.
If it will get the children out of state custody, he'll do it, Arthur Barlow told a judge Tuesday.
"I'm here to help," he said, later adding that "I know the children belong [with their mother] or with me."
http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_9322072

mysteriew

05-20-2008, 09:36 PM

State lawmakers started adding up Tuesday the "extraordinary" costs related to the raid on a polygamist sect's ranch last month and began trying to figure out where to find the expected $30 million the case will eventually cost over the next year.

"We basically need to pay what it's going to cost to do the job right and we need to know, to the best of your ability, what that cost is so we can factor that in when we're making decisions about other worthwhile costs and needs in this state," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden told Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins during a hearing Thursday.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5792763.html

mollymalone

05-21-2008, 03:34 AM

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3348643

In the midst of a three-week marathon of hearings that began yesterday, FLDS member Dan Jessop filed a new motion asking for Judge Barbara Walther's removal from his case because of bias and prejudice. Two of Jessop's children were taken into state custody early last month. A third child was born last week and placed in state custody just three hours later.

A supervising judge heard Jessop's motion for "recusal" of Judge Walther in a special hearing this morning. That judge quickly dismissed the motion.

mollymalone

05-21-2008, 03:42 AM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5793538.html
"Ten "girls" taken into custody by Texas Child Protective Services have convinced the agency they are really adults and more are expected to be similarly reclassified this week..." "On Tuesday, six more "girls" were deemed adults, including 27-year-old Leona Allred......" "Two others, Merilyn Jeffs Keate and Sarah Cathleen Jessop Nielsen, were reclassified as adults Monday as five judges began sifting through the cases of all the children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in West Texas."

"But also Tuesday, two cases came up that revealed girls as young as 15 and 16 had been united in spiritual marriages with older men. One of those girls, now 19, was ruled an adult by the courts but not before she said in a conference call to the court that she could have been no older than 16 when her daughter was born on Aug. 19, 2005. And in another courtroom, information gleaned from the records of a 17-year-old indicated she had to have been 15 when her first child was born."

mollymalone

05-21-2008, 04:11 AM

http://fe43.news.sp1.yahoo.com/video/3262
Various news videos

A report on Swinton (believed to be the one who made the phone calls)
Her father was a convicted murderer before she was born, she later
filed a restraining order against him; she has a history of false reports;
She was featured in a book about foster care in Nashville, TN, titled "Raising Shane". She also worked at State Farm insurance.

There's a video with Elissa Wall explaining that at 14 when she married she had no idea how babies were made or of the sexual acts that were necessary to create them.

Cult Cash - Fox Report with Rick Ross in which they discuss the finances of YFZ and how and where the money came from to build the compound.

Several more video links on this site.

SewingDeb

05-22-2008, 03:02 PM

Court: Texas had no right to remove FLDS children

Story Highlights

NEW: Court: State did not prove danger to children was "imminent enough"

Authorities removed more than 460 children from the YFZ Ranch in April

The children were seized after authorities received allegations of abuse

Parents reject abuse claims, have pushed for state to return children

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/22/flds.ruling/index.html

SewingDeb

05-24-2008, 11:33 AM

Exiled fathers to judge: Let us have the kids

They say allegations about the YFZ Ranch don't apply to them, also express confidence in their exes

http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_9322072

SewingDeb

05-24-2008, 11:39 AM

Hearing includes photos of Warren Jeffs kissing 13-year-old
The comments came amid testimony and evidence that raised eyebrows in the small courtroom and will continue to be when testimony resumes Tuesday morning. Most shocking was the state's release of a picture from summer 2007 showing imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs, now 52, deeply kissing a then-12-year-old girl, the aunt of the infant born May 12 whose custody was the subject of the hearing.

Rulon Daniel Jessop, the girl's brother and the infant's father, said he sees nothing wrong with his children being in the same house with underage "sister wives" of much older men. "It seemed a little wild to me," Jessop testified, "but you see a lot more wild things driving down the streets of the city at night. I do not consider a girl kissing a man sexual abuse."

Jessop identified the girl, who is listed in FLDS bishop's records as being born July 3, 1994, and is shown in pictures dated July 27, 2006, as his sister.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/may/23/hearing-includes-photos-of-sect-leader-kissing/

SewingDeb

05-24-2008, 11:41 AM

CPS asks Texas Supreme Court to overturn sect ruling

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/may/23/texas-supreme-court-expects-state-appeal-today/

and

Petition for Writ of Mandamus

http://web.gosanangelo.com/pdf/PetitionWritMandamus.pdf

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 07:57 PM

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-polygamists_25tex.ART.State.Edition2.467ff56.html

"Based on both the children's and women's repeated deceptions, lies, and misinformation, the trial court had no reliable evidence" on the identities of the children or their parents...... " "This comes as no surprise to Mary Mackert, a former FLDS member who, as a child in a polygamous family, was taught that her behavior could determine whether her father ended up in jail." "Her mother rehearsed lies with her children: When her father spent the night at his other wives' houses? "Daddy's a traveling salesman." Why didn't the family attend the mainstream Mormon church? "Daddy's a Catholic."

By the time Ms. Mackert, from Utah, was married herself at 17, to a 50-year-old lying was second nature. When her husband was in public with her, he would ask their children to "come to Grandpa." When Ms. Mackert took the rent check to the landlord, she referred to her husband as her father. "You didn't think of it as lying. It's your duty and your responsibility to protect those who are living the principle," Ms. Mackert said. "They're going to lie to protect their prophet, and the head of their family. They'll do anything under the banner of religion."

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 08:01 PM

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=bfbc44ad-5a6d-4a15-91e3-cdd5f3603001
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun: Friday, May 23, 2008

"Polygamy is illegal. Sex with children is illegal. Abuse of children is illegal.
Still, the Texas appeal court ruling this week suggests that the state is powerless to protect the more than 400 children who were seized in April from the closed compound of a polygamous, fundamentalist Mormon sect.The problem is that the child protection laws weren't written to hold a community such as this to account. But in a group such as this, the danger is pervasive, inherent and imminent but not urgent or immediate. The future of any baby born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not bright."

"The United Nations has decried the practise of polygamy as antithetical to equality rights, human rights and the rights of the child."

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 08:33 PM

VELEZ-MITCHELL: "The big concern I had when I heard about this district court decision saying these kids were in no immediate danger and that they should go back with their parents -- and we`re not talking about these kids specifically -- but in general, could there be retribution? I mean, all these people were presumably interviewed by child welfare officials. If the child welfare agency loses and these kids go back to the ranch -- and again, not talking about these kids who`ve been reunited with their families specifically, but the 400 kids -- if they go back to the ranch, could there be retribution against some of the older kids for talking and spilling their guts, or for the moms?

FLORA JESSOP, FORMER POLYGAMIST AND CHILD BRIDE: Oh, absolutely. There`s going to be plenty of retribution, especially if it is reported that any of these children have talked. The FLDS is very renowned with ex- members for punishing family members that are still on the inside. Many of the people that are speaking out right now are -- their family members are being threatened and punished for them speaking out. I`ve had a missing persons out on my mother for four years, and they`ve told me for the eight years that I`ve been fighting for these children that she is punished every day for what I do.

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 08:37 PM

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/26/ng.01.html

"Yes, he is a member of this sect. You have to believe that he was involved intimately with the birthing of babies, no matter what the age of the women are. Yes, if there were teenage girls on this compound giving birth, he was there. He would know about it. And yes, we`re told, Texas rangers have begun their investigation into Dr. Barlow"

Jessop: "They don`t beat you so that the bruises show. That`s why -- one of the reasons why they bear the long dresses and cover their bodies. They beat you in places where the bruises aren`t going to be seen. They don`t touch your face. The emotional abuse, the psychological abuse, though, that`s the worst of it. You know, this isn`t a religion. This is a white supremacist cult. They teach these kids hate. They teach them violence. They teach them that everybody outside this group is disciples from Satan. These children are brought up in terror and horror."

"And if you have the audacity of getting pregnant when you`re -- in your wife training by your father, they`ll give you an abortion with no anesthesia as punishment because if you were faithful enough, then you`re not supposed to get pregnant. And so you`re being sinful if you have -- if you happen to get pregnant by your father."

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 08:39 PM

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/22/ng.01.html
FLORA JESSOP, FORMER POLYGAMIST AND CHILD BRIDE: "But I think it`s important that people understand that this isn`t a community. A community suggests that it`s a place where you can drive in, drive on the streets. This is a compound. You can`t get into this compound, and the guys sit there and say, You have to bring your tanks back and your snipers back if you want to come in and check on these kids once they`re back in here."

GRACE: Flora, the reality is, while these judges are sitting up in their posh offices in the appeals division and they`re ruling that there are to be individual hearings for each and every child, the reality is that`s not the way the FLDS lives. They live communally. Children really aren`t even sure who their biological mom is. Explain that.

JESSOP: Well, the children are taken away from their biological parents at about 1 year of age and given to a -- they`re raised communally. In all of the paperwork from the FLDS, they refer to these women as caretakers, not as mothers. These kids don`t know who their parents are. And in many cases, they don`t know who their dads are.

mollymalone

05-27-2008, 08:41 PM

GRACE: "Carolyn, when we`re talking about the "Bishop`s Papers" that were just released today, do you have any idea who the bishop may be?

CAROLYN JESSOP, AUTHOR OF "ESCAPE", FORMER WIFE OF YFZ LEADER MERRILL JESSOP: I imagine it would be Merrill, because he`s been in -- he`s been in charge of that compound for about -- around the last four years. So that would make him bishop. He only moved up to first councilor after Wendell was kicked out, the man with 20 something wives.

GRACE: And to Flora Jessop, I noticed in these bishop papers that were found hidden away in a secret safe, a lot of the ages on the young girls are blank. What do you make of it, Flora?

FLORA JESSOP, FMR. POLYGAMIST & CHILD BRIDE, EXEC. DIRECTOR OF THE CHILD PROTECTION PROJECT: That`s normal that they leave stuff blank like that. One of the things I found very telling about the bishop`s papers, though, was that there was none of Merrill`s family listed, none of Warren`s family listed, and yet there was a large majority of Warren`s wives around that compound. And numerous other families that we`ve seen and known to be on that compound were not in those papers. So that is not a complete list of the people on that were on that compound as well.

GRACE: Man, you know, Carolyn, if a list including 21 wives for one guy is not complete, I wonder how many more examples of that there may be. Carolyn, how much can we rely on all of this evidence?

C. JESSOP: Well, I think it`s some good evidence, but I think the really incriminating evidence is missing, just like what Flora brought out. It`s the first thing I noticed is that Merrill`s family was not on that list. And there were other substantial families not on that list. The other thing is that the list is outdated. Some of the children that were listed on that list as living in Colorado City, they`re in state custody. So there`s more children down there that -- on that list as saying that they don`t live there.

gitana1

05-27-2008, 10:42 PM

mykodiak

05-28-2008, 06:09 PM

An interesting opinion article in the Salt Lake Tribune by Rebecca Walsh.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9404992

But in the end, if the Texas parents have any hope of regaining custody of their children, they will have to reject Warren's way of doing things.

Sadly, I doubt they will.

mollymalone

05-28-2008, 07:16 PM

http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_9404134

"The supreme court is giving attorneys for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) a deadline of Thursday at 9 a.m. to respond to the state's broad appeal of that ruling. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services also filed a second petition Wednesday with the state supreme court seeking a stay and a ruling on an identical decision from the appeals court in favor of an additional three mothers. The court gave Legal Aid of Northwest Texas until Thursday morning to file an answer to that petition."

mollymalone

05-28-2008, 07:17 PM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700229807,00.html
"In its motion for an emergency stay, lawyers for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services repeat their arguments that it still has not identified the parents of the FLDS children in custody.

"Louisa Bradshaw identified her children and husband," agency attorney Michael Shulman said in the filing. "Gladys Mae Jessop identified her children but not her husband or the father of her children. Marie Steed identified her children but not her husband or the father of her children." "Texas child welfare lawyers say that establishing those family links is critical to determining whether a home is safe from sexual predators. Failure to grant a stay will mean that approximately five children in this case will be returned to alleged mothers without any male sexual perpetrators being identified."

SewingDeb

05-30-2008, 04:15 PM

Texas gets DNA from Jeffs on suspicion of sexual abuse

SAN ANGELO - Texas investigators collected DNA samples from jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, suspecting him of sexual assault of a child stemming from so-called "spiritual" marriages with girls as young as 12.

Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office, said the samples were taken Thursday at an Arizona jail where Jeffs awaits trial on charges of being an accomplice to incest and sexual conduct.

and

The samples were taken as part of an investigation into whether Jeffs sexually assaulted four girls at the sect's Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado in January 2004 and July 2006.

and

Investigators have wedding photos and church records indicating he had spiritual unions - marriages recognized by the sect but not legal marriages - with four girls ranging in age from 12 to 14, according to an affidavit filed by Denis Gilbert, an Arizona officer aiding Texas law enforcement. At least one girl conceived a child at 15, the affidavit says.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/may/30/texas-takes-dna-from-sect-leader-jeffs/

SewingDeb

06-05-2008, 01:28 PM

Sheriff: Sect members will be charged

FORT WORTH, Texas - Even as children continue to stream back home to the Yearning for Zion Ranch near El Dorado, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran predicted Tuesday that numerous criminal charges will eventually be returned against followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

"I believe when all of the criminal charges come forward it is going to be very hard to practice their beliefs within the state of Texas," Doran said. "I believe there are numerous criminal investigations going, and a number of charges will eventually come out of those investigations."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/06/04/20080604polyretreat04-on.html

SewingDeb

06-05-2008, 01:28 PM

Sect families hesitant to return to ranch
Though 397 children are back with mothers, FLDS can't forget raid

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5817593.html

SewingDeb

06-05-2008, 01:33 PM

There's only a little sign of life at the sect ranch
Trucks, gardens are idle with few FLDS residents

One of those girls is thought to be a 16-year-old whose separate release Tuesday came with extra conditions after her lawyer claimed the girl was a victim of sexual abuse.

The court order signed by state District Judge Barbara Walther allows the girl, a daughter of jailed FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs, to be reunited in a private Bexar County residence with her mother, Annette Jeffs.

Walther's order also stipulates she cannot reside outside of Bexar County; cannot have contact with her father, a convicted sex offender awaiting a second trial in Arizona; or another alleged perpetrator, a man in his late 30s whose relationship to the girl is not established in the court order.

Natalie Malonis, the girl's attorney, said she felt her client's safety would be jeopardized without the special protections.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5819810.html

mollymalone

06-07-2008, 02:14 AM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700232577,00.html
Jeffs' defense lawyers put the court on notice that they intend to fight to suppress "any and all evidence obtained from the raid and the search of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) property in the state of Texas."

Jeffs' attorneys put the court on notice in a legal reply, complaining that they have been denied access to public records regarding calls claiming abuse in Arizona and Utah. The Arizona Attorney General's Office objected to their records request, saying that attorneys representing criminal defendants cannot make public records requests because they can obtain it through discovery.

In their reply, Wright and Piccarreta said they want to gather information on the hoax calls and "show that the raid and search of the FLDS property in Texas was illegal and the fruits thereof must be suppressed."

mollymalone

06-07-2008, 02:16 AM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700232582,00.html
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he accepted personal blame if Texas "stepped across some legal line" in seizing the FLDS children. But he defended the state's action in comments to the Dallas Morning News. I still think that the state of Texas has an obligation to young women who are forced into marriage and underage sex — to protect them. That's my bottom line on this," he told the newspaper during a visit to France.

The governor said he hopes prosecutors "continue to send the message" to the FLDS Church that child sex abuse won't be tolerated. "If you don't want to be prosecuted for those activities, then maybe Texas is not the place you need to consider calling home," Perry said. "If responsibility needs to be taken for (appellate and Supreme Court decisions) saying that we stepped across some legal line, I'll certainly take that responsibility," the Texas governor said during a business conference in La Baule, France. "I am substantially less interested in these fine legal lines that we're discussing than I am about these children's welfare, that's where my focus is. That's where CPS' focus is."

SewingDeb

06-11-2008, 12:07 PM

The attorney for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said Tuesday that the polygamist sect intends to sue state and county officials over the April 3 raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado.

and

Joe Spurlock, a Texas Wesleyan University law professor and former family court judge, said the Texas Family Code provides Child Protective Services with immunity from lawsuits even if the children are taken without a court order. In this case, where a court order was obtained, Spurlock said he didn't know how a lawsuit would succeed.

"Lawsuit? I don't think so," Spurlock said. "I think as long as the state took those kids under the reasonable belief that there was some type of abuse or neglect going on, they don't have a leg to stand on. Even in hindsight, as the Supreme Court said, you shouldn't have taken all of the kids, that doesn't mean there are grounds for a lawsuit unless you can prove they deliberately lied about the conditions on that ranch."

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/693313.html

mollymalone

06-11-2008, 07:33 PM

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700233685,00.html

Law enforcement in Texas has been on alert since a Fundamentalist LDS Church-related Web site published Walther's home address and work and home telephone numbers. As for the threat to "pay Ms. Walther's home a visit," on the site www.flds.ws, Parker said the site is not sanctioned by the FLDS Church. The site is run by Bill Medvecky, a Fort Myers, Fla., man who has donated to the fund for captive FLDS children, Parker said.
Once Parker told church leaders that the post could be construed as a threat, they contacted Medvecky and had him remove the judge's address, he said. However, Walther's work and phone numbers are still listed on the Web site. The site calls Walther the "leader of the Gestapo," and includes a link to a petition to impeach the judge.
Medvecky doesn't see the harm in publishing Walther's address on the Internet. After all, it's in the phone book, he said. "They are not confrontational whatsoever. I am," Medvecky told the Deseret News. "They are not me, and they have nothing to do with the site. We support them 100 percent."

SewingDeb

06-12-2008, 03:29 PM

FLDS couple get a ruling against state

“I am not going to allow CPS or any other agency to interfere with parents in this state,” the judge said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA061008.1B.FLDShearing.3899a1c.html

mollymalone

06-12-2008, 06:02 PM

http://www.childbrides.org/news_raid_FWST_FLDS_to_sue_Texas_over_raid.html

Parker said the sect will carry out its vow to register 300 voters in Schleicher County, where the ranch and Eldorado are. "I think so," Parker said. "I don't think you will see people from the ranch running for office but I do think you will see them wanting to have a say in the elections, particularly in the sheriff's race." He said it can be taken as a sign that the FLDS isn't leaving Texas. "They intend to stay," Parker said. "It's inappropriate, almost bigoted to suggest that a group should just go away. I really find that offensive."

The Schleicher County election administrator's office hasn't recorded any new registrants in recent weeks, but if FLDS followers registered online it would take several months for the county to receive notification from the state, a spokesperson said. Last week, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran told the Star-Telegram that the voter registration would be retaliation against him for his role in the April 3 raid. Parker did nothing to dispel that notion, saying Doran "squandered the opportunity to have a better relationship" with sect leaders and was swayed by CPS allegations of abuse at the ranch.

mollymalone

06-12-2008, 06:04 PM

I found this on childbrides link but it was originally posted by the Deseret news.

Heigl to star in movie based on ex-FLDS member's book
Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, June 11, 2008

"Gray's Anatomy" actress Katherine Heigl will star in a feature film adaptation of Carolyn Jessop's best-selling book "Escape," about her life within the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The Hollywood-industry newspaper Variety reported Tuesday that Heigl will also produce the film.

mollymalone

06-12-2008, 06:08 PM

http://www.childbrides.org/news_action_des_summit_targets_FLDS.html
"Shurtleff said he would like to expand the working group to include Colorado, Idaho and other states where the FLDS Church has enclaves." " Asked if the FLDS Church should be concerned about the four states joining forces to investigate any crimes within the group, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard smiled. "You could draw that conclusion," he said."

"Clad in a trademark white cowboy hat, a Texas Ranger who attended the meeting declined to speak about the meeting. "I'm not at liberty to discuss much," he said.

SewingDeb

06-20-2008, 05:39 PM

Fix 'slanderous' claims, FLDS says
Demand sent to Utah A.G., state officers

A Salt Lake City attorney has asked three Utah officials to "immediately correct" misstatements about FLDS members in profiles provided to Texas authorities.
The profiles, given to Texas law enforcement prior to custody hearings for about 450 children from the polygamous sect's YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, were based on "unsubstantiated or from unreliable sources," said Rod Parker, an FLDS spokesman, in a letter distributed Tuesday.
"As public servants, sworn to serve and protect the citizens, the spreading of slanderous statements such as these jeopardizes the trust of county officials, state officials, law enforcement and government officials of neighboring states, and private citizens," the letter states.
Parker sent the letter to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap and Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9613555

SewingDeb

06-20-2008, 05:41 PM

Utah birth records sought in probe of FLDS couples' ages

Utah birth certificates may be playing a significant role in an investigation into possible sexual abuse at a polygamous sect's Texas ranch, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.
An Arizona investigator requested copies of birth certificates for approximately 25 FLDS couples from the YFZ Ranch - about 50 people in all - to confirm their dates of birth, according to Jeff Duncan, director of the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics.
Gary Engels, a special investigator for Mohave County, Ariz., made the request for information first to the Utah Attorney General's Office, which referred him to the vital statistics office.
"I never heard anything directly from the state of Texas," Duncan said.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9625046

SewingDeb

06-20-2008, 05:42 PM

Civil rights investigation
FBI probe in 1980s: Lost chance to curb FLDS leaders?
Evicting the unfaithful did not violate rights, feds found

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9564111

faw720

06-20-2008, 08:14 PM

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/710219html

Maybe we'll soon know if there's enough evidence to bring criminal charges.

SewingDeb

06-20-2008, 10:36 PM

Faw, I couldn't get your link to work but found another one:

Grand jury to meet on FLDS compound raid next week
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3579162

SewingDeb

06-20-2008, 10:37 PM

This is another article (long!) about the Grand Jury:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9637417

SewingDeb

06-23-2008, 10:25 AM

June 21, 2008, 9:31PM
FLDS is left without a leader
With Jeffs in jail no one seems to know whom in sect holds power

"There are a lot of people underground," said Holm, a long-distance truck driver. "I know it's difficult for me to get in touch with (the leaders) when I need them."

Legal pressure is mounting against the breakaway Mormon sect on several fronts. Courts forced Texas authorities to return the hundreds of children it seized in April from the FLDS ranch near Eldorado but is building a criminal case as it investigates alleged forced marriages between minor girls and older men there. A massive civil suit against the church is winding its way through the courts in Utah.

And the group's leaders appear to be underground, and possibly on the run.

In Utah, former members are suing them and the church they lead for millions of dollars. Should criminal charges be filed in Texas, the church's leaders will likely be targets, said a knowledgeable source close to the sect who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the proceedings.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5850147.html

faw720

06-25-2008, 08:40 PM

No indictments were issued today by the Grand Jury. They will not meet again until July 22.

http://gosanangelo.com/news/2008/jun/25/flds-grand-jury-calls-female-sect-members-to/

mollymalone

06-29-2008, 08:59 PM

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9737603
FLDS women for the first time are offering their handmade, distinctive style of children's clothes to the public through the Web site fldsdress.com. Launched initially to provide Texas authorities with clothing for FLDS children in custody, the online store now is aimed at helping their mothers earn a living. The venture, which has already drawn queries from throughout the U.S., is banking on interest in modest clothes, curiosity and charity to be a success.

We had to look at what we can do," Jessop said, since the state was "trying to ruin us, almost putting us in a beggar state." "They accuse us of [relying] on welfare, but that's untrue," she said. "We like to be busy and learn to meet our needs - out of ashes growing lilies."

And more enterprising efforts are in the works: The group plans to launch a site offering FLDS-made crafts in coming weeks. It will feature CDs of members like Jessop singing songs for children, children's books written and illustrated by FLDS members and cookie and recipe books.

mollymalone

06-29-2008, 09:17 PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5850147.html
And the group's leaders appear to be underground, and possibly on the run.

In Utah, former members are suing them and the church they lead for millions of dollars. Should criminal charges be filed in Texas, the church's leaders will likely be targets, said a knowledgeable source close to the sect who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the proceedings. "I expect (Texas authorities) are going to get to the leadership," the source said. From his Utah jail cell, the group's "prophet," Warren Jeffs, issued very few church-related communiqués, according to a court-appointed special trustee. So if Jeffs is little more than a figurehead, who's calling the shots inside the FLDS? Wisan said no one — not even well-placed members — seems certain of the answer. "I've got active FLDS members that I talk to, and they don't know," he said.

As Jeffs' inner circle comes under increasing fire, some speculate there may be room for those out of favor with him to ascend to leadership positions. Carolyn Jessop, who chronicled her journey out of the FLDS in her best-selling memoir Escape, believes a number of men — including Willie Jessop, Warren Jeffs' former bodyguard who has emerged as a sect spokesman in Eldorado (and is not the same man as William T. Jessop) — are probably angling to step in.

mollymalone

06-29-2008, 09:21 PM

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-cockerell_28tex.ART.State.Edition1.4d76bd4.html

State protective services commissioner Carey Cockerell said Friday that he will retire on Aug. 31. Mr. Cockerell, who wasn't available for an interview, began considering retirement late last year, according to a Department of Family and Protective Services news release.

Salem

07-23-2008, 01:15 AM

Jeffs has been indicted again! WOO HOO!

http://news.aol.com/article/polygamist-sect-leader-jeffs-indicted/95785?icid=100214839x1206134267x1200327500

Salem

A snip:
Attorney General Greg Abbott said the five men are charged with one count of sexually assaulting girls under the age of 17. One of them, but not Jeffs, faces an additional charge of bigamy.
Abbott said a sixth member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse.
Jeffs, already convicted of being accomplice to rape in Utah and awaiting trial in Arizona on other charges related to underage marriages, is accused of assaulting a girl in Texas in January 2005, according to the indictment issued Tuesday.
"Our investigation in this matter is not concluded. This is an ongoing investigation that we intend to continue," said Abbott, whose office is acting as the special prosecutor in the case.
The grand jury in this tiny western Texas ranching community will continue consideration of other possible criminal charges on Aug. 21, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because proceedings of the panel are secret by law.
The identities of the Jeffs' followers who were indicted in addition to him were not released Tuesday because the indictments remain sealed until authorities can arrest the men.
"There will be an aggressive effort to apprehend them," Abbott said when asked whether he was concerned the men may have fled Texas.

lisalei321

07-29-2008, 08:49 AM

http://www.sltrib.com/Salt%20Lake%20Tribune%20Home%20Page/ci_10027362

Five FLDS men turn themselves in to Texas authorities
By Emily Ramshaw
The Dallas Morning News

Article Last Updated: 07/28/2008 10:09:02 PM MDT

Posted: 10:05 PM- AUSTIN, Texas - Five men from a West Texas polygamous sect wanted on charges ranging from sexual assault of a child to bigamy turned themselves in Monday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced.
The men are being held at the Schleicher County jail. Those charged with felonies are being held in lieu of $100,000 bail each. Those men face sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.

More at the link.