Posted on 04/28/2008 5:27:59 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
31 of 53 teen girls at FLDS ranch are pregnant or had baby
By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago
More than half the teen girls taken from a polygamist compound in west Texas have children or are pregnant, state officials said Monday.
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. Two are pregnant now, CPS officials have said in court; it was unclear whether either of those two already have children.
"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," he said.
State officials took custody of all 463 children at the ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying a pattern of teen girls forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.
Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. A girl can get married with parental permission at 16, but none of these girls is believed to have a legal marriage under state law.
State officials said earlier that they had found girls who were pregnant or had children of their own at the ranch, but they had not provided more than rough estimates until Monday.
Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the ranch and say the state's actions are a form of religious persecution.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Funny thing.
Information is being given in the article, and yet, there are those who somehow ignore that data, and then condemn anyone who says they might be wrong about something.
Because, to them, it is not about the safety and welfare of the children, and the women at the FLDS compound, nor about their rights (they don’t have the rights other American Citizens have, another provable fact).
IT’S ABOUT THEM BEING RIGHT, and YOU BEING WRONG. That seems to be their only goal.
You cannot question them, because they KNOW they are right.
Even when the facts say otherwise.
31 girls between 14 and 17 either have children, or are pregnant.
2 are pregnant.
That means there are 29 girls between 14 and 17 who already have given birth.
MATH SO EASY, even that one poster’s DOG could do it.
Now it is up to the LE to determine if those 29 girls babies belong to the Men at the compound, who are much, much older, and exactly what laws were broken.
“It is about defending the Constitution and Bill of Rights, you know the rule of law, due process.”
If so, why don’t these women and children have the same rights as you or I?
They can be impregnated at the WHIM of Warren Jeffs, by anyone of his choosing, and if they exercise their RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH, they are thrown out in the street, or suffer BLOOD ATONEMENT (having your throat slit).
They cannot go to the PUBLIC LIBRARY, pick up a book and read it. Their access to NEWS, and BOOKs, is strictly limited, and all reading material is CENSORED. All their mail is censored. Mail is not allowed to be directly delivered to any ‘family unit’.
These women and children, can be torn away from the family they know, and traded to other MALE FLDS members, based on Warren Jeffs opinion of whether he wants to PUNISH or REWARD those males, and he does so, WITHOUT ANY KIND OF TRIAL OR RIGHTS INVOLVED.
Yes. So, why aren’t the women and children, and many of the males,at the FLDS compound, allowed RULE OF LAW, and DUE PROCESS, or Constitutional Rights?
“I believe they not only hate Mormons (LDS), but hate men in general, if you know what I mean.”
You like to spread unfounded gossip because you think it makes you look better than others.
Show us a post where one of ‘those’ posters stated they hate Mormons, or hate men in general.
Or, would that be asking too much?
There is a difference between ‘think’ and ‘proof’.
Based on your ‘statement’, I guess we can just declare all MALES at the FLDS compound guilty of rape, and hang them.
Since, we ‘think’ they did it. No need for proof.
Thank you for saying what I have been saying, but in fewer words.
“It wasn’t CPS that went in there first. It was welfare fraud investigators.”
True. But some aren’t interested in facts.
It might screw up their line of reasoning.
So where are the other 410 children now?
No problem :)
Well, the problem with having a class of “minors” and “adults” is that it is inevitably arbitrary. As a society we have pretty much settled on age 18. Of course some 15, 16, and 17 year olds (some of whom are full time college students) are more mature than some 19, 20, 21 year olds.
But if we don’t have a settled age, you’d have to analyze each person in each case, trying to figure out their maturity level. That’s impossible.
So, we stick with 18. As someone who was living on their own at age 15, I still think 18 is reasonable. I wouldn’t argue to change it.
Bwahahaha!!
He’s calling us all lesbians!!
My husband of 19 years, and my four children will get a kick out of that!!
Like what? Care to elaborate?
What abuses of rights is the government committing? Why don't you provide the facts in the case and provide your sources?
I guess it’s pretty clear who’s losing that debate.
I read it myself and the 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure and requires a search warrant with probable cause, oaths, descriptions, and all.
Please show where they did not follow the 4th in what they did. How did they violate *due process*?
Did they not have probable cause when they saw pregnant minors which clearly indicate statutory rape? Did the warrants not spell out correctly what and/or who was to be searched for and/or seized?
I keep hearing about due process but nobody has yet shown me what the government has specifically done wrong in this case.
My opinion is that this group is guilty as they come and should be dealt with according to the magnitude of their crimes.
But that does NOT mean that they ARE going to jail on my opinion.
I know that I have ZERO chance of serving on a jury and if I look at the weight of evidence stacked against these guys and come to the most logical conclusion I can; that they are guilty, it doesn't make a whit if difference to what's going to happen when this goes to trial. Nobody is going to jail on anyone's opinion.
I AM entitled to my opinion, am I not?
“I keep hearing about due process but nobody has yet shown me what the government has specifically done wrong in this case. “
I don’t see how, with the publicity this is getting, the CPS could get away with even the slightest infraction.
It would be HEADLINE news, if it had happened.
They are human, so mistakes could have been made.
I am sure, in the long run, we will know positively, one way or another.
They couldn't. It would turn into a veritable feeding frenzy. The media would so love it and eat the CPS and state of Texas alive.
The facts and the sources are all over FR.
It’s not my job to impress you.
Another unsubstantitated claim of government incompetence.
I’ve been following these threads and all I see is accusations and never any hard facts.
I read the warrants and have seen both sides argue their case.
The ones who say the government has followed procedure provide links to support what they say. The ones who say they didn’t post drive by posts, and tell people to look it up themselves.
I wonder who has more credibility? Someone who backs up what they say of someone who expects to believed just on say so.
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