Posted on 04/16/2008 1:39:51 PM PDT by MissouriConservative
Several women from the polygamist retreat raided more than a week ago defended their lifestyle Wednesday in an exclusive interview with FOX News, calling it "a wonderful pure life," and saying government officials deceived them when they raided the ranch where they live.
***SNIP***
"I want the world to know that our children have been torn from us and that they need us," said Sally, a mother of nine.
"They told us that they were going to put us on a bus and take us to where it was a bigger, better place to be — where our family could be together," she added.
***SNIP***
On Monday, officials began separating women and some of their offspring without warning, members of the sect said.
***SNIP***
Texas Children's Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said officials decided that children are more truthful in interviews about possible abuse if their parents are not around.
"I can tell you we believe the children who are victims of abuse or neglect, and particularly victims at the hands of their own parents, certainly are going to feel safer to tell their story when they don't have a parent there that's coaching them with how to respond," Meisner said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Exactly. And it may backfire on them.
If there is a crime, and solid probable cause, investigate and prosecute that crime. But don't act on what may well be a ruse and then do so in a manner that looks more and more like a big fishing exercise.
These officials acted on a very thin (it seems to me) phone call that wasn't even recorded about a man who does not even live at the compound or in the state of Texas.
By acting so percipitously, if they do not locate this girl and have her story corroborated by facts, Texas may end up looking at huge law suits that fill this cult's coffers, and discourage future investigation.
I hope I ma wrong...but it's nonetheless always best to strictly follow constitutional guidance in such local matters. IMHO, they have (for what they consider to be the best of underlying reasons) stepped over their constitutional mandate if this girl turns out to be a ruse or disaffected member...and may jeopardize propoer investigation and prosecution in the future.
Shades of drinking the cool-aide. This press thing was a lame attempt at PR and you seem to have bought it.
To Cal Farley's Boys Ranch.
http://www.calfarley.org/Pages/default.aspx
To which one post on the net is as follows:
http://texaslastfrontier.com/prairie_fire_journal/blog1.php
The state of Texas dispersed two dozen of the FLDS boys to the remote Cal Farley Boy's Ranch compound located in the northern Texas panhandle county of Oldham, approximately 400 miles north of Eldorado Monday night. In effect, placing the boys in a foster care facility without a proper hearing. Cal Farley's Boy Ranch is an isolated compound located at the confluence of the Canadian River and U.S. Highway 385. It's a privately operated facility for troubled children that emphasizes an evangelical Christian perspective. Life at the ranch is highly regimented, highly supervised, and the children have very limited contact with the outside world. Communicating with outsiders is forbidden unless approved and supervised by ranch staff. Attendance at Sunday church services is mandatory. I don't know how they punish children at the ranch these days, but in the 1970s I witnessed brutal beatings of children by the staff. Stiff corporal punishment was the order of the day back then. Since access to the ranch is restricted, it's hard for the general public to know what really goes on in there. I thought that was the kind of place the state claims it was saving them from when it conducted a mass abduction at the FLDS ranch in Eldorado 12 days ago.
/johnny
“Well, Sally, that’s because they need to determine whether there was abuse and what your level of complicity in that abuse has been.”
And will you take that answer when they come for yours?
So you admit there has NOT BEEN a determination of abuse, but you are not bothered by the state taking four hundred children from their mothers.
Young children walking around pregnant isn't evidence in your world.
Does the age of consent for marriage matter, since most of these marriages are a sham? Or can I really give consent for my thirteen year old daughter to be raped by a fifty year old guy? Remember - they aren’t legally married!
Have you noticed how few of the Big Love-Daddy Prophets have come forth to talk to the world?
Aren't they supposed to be Preachers?
Instead, they hide behind the flowing pink dresses of their concubines.
Bah.
I find it unsettling how many here on FR flirt with apologias for the perquisites of old, goat perverts.
I am sure it is a "wonderful" life for the 50 year old men that bed 14 year old girls.
Have you noticed how few of the Big Love-Daddy Prophets have come forth to talk to the world?
Aren't they supposed to be Preachers?
Instead, they hide behind the flowing pink dresses of their concubines.
Bah.
I find it unsettling how many here on FR flirt with apologias for the perquisites of old, goat perverts.
With 6 women asking to NOT go back to the camp and instead stay with their kids in town, I'd suggest they have all the evidence they need that the group was violating Texas laws.
Reading through your front page I caught wind of your being in the intermountain West just past Idaho. Got some relatives in the area ~ Christmas Valley ~ all of 'em belong to the local Apostolic Charismatic Church of the First Born .... bet you know exactly where that is don't you!
Give us a link, Please..
And what does the "state law test" say about abortion?
“The women, who appeared on FOX News wearing similar high-collared dresses in pastel colors, said they agreed to speak to the media in the hopes of getting their children back.” . . . so they could hand them over to pederast freaks when they start their periods.
There, fixed it.
It's a RANCH. It is not a "compound". A 'compound' by definition would be an enclosed area and the inference is that it is also a fortification. The ranch in question is surrounded by the kind of ranch fencing typical of the area and there are no fortifications whatsoever at the ranch.
The term 'compound' is being used by the Texas authorities and the media to propagandize and incite opinion against these people.
“Seems to me that I remember a time when some daycare people were destroyed because the children made up a bunch of lies and were encouraged by child services.”
The differences I see in this case are:
1. Their official, published beliefs are that adolescent girls should have sex with whatever man they are told to have sex with.
2. There is a lot of physical evidence that they are acting on their beliefs (many pregnant teen girls).
3. There are many ex members of this cult who will testify that this indeed occurs regularly.
I can’t put this in the same league as McMartin preschool.
Wrong. The age of consent has been changed to 16 with a parent’s permission. This law was enacted when the FLDS set up shop in TX a few years ago, knowing their track record with little girls.
“These woman “have” to believe this cult crap, “
I read that over a hundred women chose to go to a women’s shelter rather than return to their wonderful home.
“Shades of the trains to Auschwitz”
Where is Auschwitz? In the shelters, or back at the Ranch.
I think these trains were LEAVING Auschwitz, to go with your analogy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.