Posted on 04/09/2008 9:33:38 AM PDT by Domandred
Texas authorities named the wrong man in search and arrest warrants used to enter the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado and begin questioning FLDS children, two opponents of the sect said Tuesday.
The warrant issued Thursday evening named 50-year-old Dale Barlow, alleging he had married and impregnated a 16-year-old girl. Officials, who later sought a second search warrant, have removed 419 children.
But Joni Holm, who has helped children leave the FLDS, said the teenager who called officials on March 29 and 30 and claimed she was abused is married to a different, younger man. The girl's husband is in his late 30s, is related to Dale Barlow, shares his surname and has a similar sounding first name, Holm said.
"I know they're looking into the wrong one," Holm said.
Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, on Tuesday said police were continuing to serve warrants and attempt to locate "the person that we are looking for."
When asked if that person was still Dale Barlow, she said, "As far as I know."
But Flora Jessop, who left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age 16 and now helps others do the same, also said the wrong man was named in the initial warrants.
Texas authorities have made no effort to apprehend Dale Barlow at his address in Colorado City, Ariz. He reported to his Arizona probation officer on Friday - less than 24 hours after the raid began to tell the officer he was under investigation.
His probation officer has said Dale Barlow claimed to not know the teenager making the abuse accusations. Later Friday, Arizona authorities questioned him and searched his home.
The Salt Lake Tribune, which generally does not name alleged victims of sexual abuse, and other media outlets have not published the girl's name.
But Holm said the girl's identity, and the correct identity of her husband, is "common knowledge" in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, where the sect has traditionally been based.
The Tribune is not naming the man identified by Holm as the girl's husband because he has not been named as a suspect or in court filings.
Holm, who is married to a former FLDS member, said she has spoken with people who know the teenager. She thinks Texas officials confused the two Barlows.
She believes it is possible the teenager did not know her husband's correct age and told authorities he is about 50. Also, she noted, Dale Barlow has a 2007 conviction in Arizona for criminal charges related to marrying and impregnating a different 16-year-old girl, which may have contributed to confusion.
The first warrant identified Dale Barlow by name and his birth date. The copy on file in court does not list the name of the investigator who petitioned for it.
A second and more expanded warrant, signed Sunday night, was based on observations and evidence found by law enforcement and child services workers inside the compound, according to court documents.
Its possible she may not have known her father’s legal name. I’m all for LE protecting innocent children from harm.
I'll remember that when whatever group that you belong to gets rounded up.
If I was a member of a group where children were being raped and abused I’d welcome LE.
So in your opinions, a pregnant 13, 14 whatever teen is sufficient justification for a search and seizure of all children within sight? If my neighbor’s 14 year old daughter looks like she has a bun in the oven, the police can kick down the doors in the middle of the night, roust everyone out and take all 4 kids into foster care?
Or is this just another, “It OK because they are Christian Fundies, It’s for the Chiiiiiildren” deal like Waco?
Yes. They'd probably have seen no problem with the concentration camps either. After all, it was just Juden. ~
The preservation of civil rights is MOST important when it's the worst people.
Because then when you nail them you've done it right.
The process either is for all of us or for none of us. You don't get to pick and choose based on their religion.
So what you are saying is if a minor calls authorities for help because she has been raped and held against her will, if she does not know the correct name of the person or persons who did it, the the authorities should not respond.
I don't doubt the authorities were acting with the best of intentions.
And that is why the 4th has not been abused.
We will see if has or not eventually.
Okay. Give me your address and I'll make a hushed anonymous phone call about you.
LE knows where to find me if they want, I’m very easily found.
Not to mention the phenomenon of wives getting reassigned to different husbands. When a man angers the "prophet" and gets kicked out of the cult, his wives and children are immediately reassigned to other men. In some cases, probably no one knows for sure which husband impregnated a particular woman. Children who were part of such transfers as infants or toddlers are probably unaware of who their real father was.
And children born into families where there are already children by several mothers may not really know who their mother is (the Texas authorities are reporting that some of the children they're questioning have identified several different women when asked who their mother is). And the fathers can't always keep track of which children came from which mother. One now-adult escapee has reported that when she was an adolescent, her father fondled her regularly and on multiple occasions during this activity asked her who her mother was -- he just couldn't keep track, and obviously had no more than a fleeting interest in the information.
So your whats, ifs, ands, and butts are just that meaningless dribble.
That's not the point and you know it.
When an anonymous accusation is made against you, you're going to want all of the protections of the Constitution that you are saying these people don't deserve.
Put you money where your mouth is. Post your address so someone can call you in for a heinous crime.
Or if she’s afraid to give her own name, because she doesn’t know if she can trust the stranger she’s talking to.
Firstly I don’t have children. Secondly, I work for LE. Like I said, I’m very easily found.
So Federal agents burning 76 people alive in 1993 was my imagination? Get a grip jackboot.
Well there's the rub, isn't it?
These people are innocent until proven guilty. We have laws and procedures to ensure that they get a fair trial. If those laws or procedures have been short circuited because they seem to have done something that repulses you be advised that the same thing can happen to you if something you do offends someone else.
Or are you one of those, "It's not about the facts, it's about the seriousness of the charges" type?
Fine, we'll say you knocked up the neighbor's 10 year old daughter instead of your own.
Secondly, I work for LE.
I'm not sure why that matters.
Like I said, I’m very easily found.
So what? Post your address and let's see if the system works.
I am saying I have questions about the legal, lawful authority that was used to get and execute a search/arrest warrant. The police didn't just rush out there to see if the child was ok on an emergency basis which I think would stand up to court scrutiny. Such as a 911 call.
Instead they went through a time consuming search warrant and arrest application process. Which had major erroneous information.
Of course I think the police should respond. I just want them to do it right so the scumbag answers for it.
That fact is that excessive adherence to legal technicalities is what has allowed this systematic abuse to go on for many generations, involving tens of thousands of girls. Enough with the techincalities already. Everybody knows that illegal abuse of children is a mandatory feature of daily life in this group, and it must be stopped. If the law needs to be bent to stop it, that’s fine.
There is simply no question about what has been going on inside this compound. You can also debate about whether there’s sufficient proof that the Earth revolves around the Sun for that concept (once classified as a heresy by the Catholic Church) to be taught to public school children, but rational people will ignore your arguments.
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