Merril Jessop.
Posted on 04/25/2008 9:49:53 PM PDT by Howdy there
An attorney for FLDS families in Texas today challenged the state's claim of a pervasive pattern of underage girls having children, saying the state's own documents show that just two teenagers in custody are pregnant.
Snip
Of the three teenagers listed as pregnant, Parker said, one is about to turn 18 and another refused to take a pregnancy test, he said.
"That leaves us with one," he said. Based on that list, Parker said, "I challenge the CPS to come forward with the pregnant minors."
Chris Van Deusen, a CPS spokesman, said, "The only thing we can say is we're aware that there are 20 girls who became pregnant, and they were between the ages of 13 and 16.
"That's not to say that there are 20 now, but at the time theyconceived, they were 13, 14, 15 or 16," he said. "That establishes that there is some sexual abuse here."
Parker said the 20 minors the state has identified either as pregnant or mothers actually had children over a 10-year period.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
Ping, new article.
“An attorney for FLDS families in Texas today challenged the state’s claim of a pervasive pattern of underage girls having children, saying the state’s own documents show that just two teenagers in custody are pregnant.
Snip
Of the three teenagers listed as pregnant, Parker said, one is about to turn 18 and another refused to take a pregnancy test, he said.
“That leaves us with one,” he said. Based on that list, Parker said, “I challenge the CPS to come forward with the pregnant minors.”
Chris Van Deusen, a CPS spokesman, said, “The only thing we can say is we’re aware that there are 20 girls who became pregnant, and they were between the ages of 13 and 16.
“That’s not to say that there are 20 now, but at the time theyconceived, they were 13, 14, 15 or 16,” he said. “That establishes that there is some sexual abuse here.”
Parker said the 20 minors the state has identified either as pregnant or mothers actually had children over a 10-year period.”
Even if it is one, one is still too many.
So if there is one in your home town, the state should swoop in and take everyone's kids?
I am curious - how are they esablishing age in each specific case?
(If you say bone scans, you are wrong. Human variance is simply too large to put it within any specific age.)
Does the religious leader of my hypothetical home town recommend child rape and welfare fraud as a way of life? Is he imprisoned on charges of accessory to child rape? Is the entire “home town” in on an ongoing conspiracy to commit child rape and welfare fraud?
No. But one pregnant teen is too many.
Excellent points. Great counter argument. ;-)
PING!!
FReepmail to be added to the FLDS Eldorado Legal Case Ping List
(Merril Jessop has retained a criminal defense attorney, according to the statement by Danny Hurley)
Thanks Political mom!
He’s gonna need one.
That is one fella I hope goes to the big house.
Merril Jessop.
Well, so much for genetic variance.
That should make for an intersting case study.
At the risk of spamming, and admitting that 10 is not 20, here’s the Dallas Morning News article, saying that there are currently 10 pregnant girls, not 2 or threehttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-polygamists_23tex.ART.State.Edition2.4682227.html
and the Deseret News, which added 25 mothers under the age of 18 to the 17.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695273381,00.html
Lawyers are paid to tell the clients’ stories.
most people know their age. For most of us, there’s documentation. These are not most people, but still . . .
I was going with the assertion that they refuse to say.
Age is really, really hard to establish, medically.
You can tell the difference between 40 and 20 fairly easily - but 16 vs. 17?
Forget it.
In a normal population.
HOWEVER - given a family tree that don’t branch - I really don’t know. This could get interesting.
Anyone who trusts the media to accurately report on a Christian community in todays anti-Christian climate, or the State to descend on them with APCs and automatic rifles, or the CPS to abduct hundreds of children when hundreds of them have already been sexually abused murdered or gone missing in their custody, I wouldn’t trust to know what they’re talking about.
That wasn’t a town, it was a religious commune run by a cult. Big difference.
So the government does not have to show cause to take anyone’s kids? Sounds facistic to me.
Excellent post!
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