Posted on 05/07/2008 5:55:49 AM PDT by MizSterious
Texas AG will prosecute any criminal cases from polygamous ranch raid |
| By Nate Carlisle The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune |
| Article Last Updated: |
| SAN ANGELO, Texas - A judge has ordered the Texas attorney general's office to prosecute any future criminal cases connected to last month's raid on a polygamous sect's Eldorado ranch. In a request filed Monday, Tom Green County District Attorney Stephen Lupton asked the state to step in. In a one-paragraph order issued the same day, a state judge instructed the attorney general to review any possible charges arising from two search warrants served on the YFZ Ranch, home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, did not know what type of charges the office would consider, but said: "Our office has been in communication with law enforcement as well as prosecutors." Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has said his office will not prosecute bigamy among the FLDS unless someone is committing additional felonies, such as sexual abuse or fraud. Strickland said the Texas attorney general has not made such a declaration. The case volume had the potential to burden the Tom Green County district attorney's office, which has jurisdiction for felony cases in a five-county area with a combined population similar to West Valley City. Lupton also is dealing with a recent leukemia diagnosis. Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) has said there is evidence adult FLDS men were having sex with underage girls. Officials also have said 41 of the 464 FLDS children in custody had histories of broken bones, but have acknowledged that it has not been determined whether any of those injuries were the result of abuse. Two men arrested for allegedly interfering with police during the raid have not been charged. CPS said Tuesday it is assessing the FLDS children to develop individual education plans. It is planning for children to be taught in foster care facilities, not public schools, the agency said. Authorities raided the ranch beginning April 3, serving search and arrest warrants that said a 16-year-old girl there had called a hot line claiming her 50-year-old husband was abusing her. Neither was at the ranch; the arrest warrant was later canceled and a Colorado woman with a history of making false abuse claims is being investigated in connection with the hot-line calls. Legal experts have said criminal prosecutions could be challenged with the apparently faulty information contained in the original warrants. But lawyers also have said inaccuracies will not be an issue in the civil proceedings determining child custody. CPS officials have said that once on the ranch, they found evidence of abuse. ncarlisle@sltrib.com --- * BROOKE ADAMS contributed to this report. Texas laws that may come into play
A number of laws may come into play if a special prosecutor decides to pursue criminal charges against FLDS residents of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado: * Age of sexual consent: The age of consent in Texas is 17. But anyone charged can raise as a defense that the victim is older than 14; is not someone the defendant is barred from marrying or purporting to marry; and their age difference is three years or less. * Bigamy: In 2005, Texas strengthened its bigamy law to address unions that are not legally sanctioned but have the "appearance" of a marriage. Bigamy with someone age 16 or older is a second-degree felony; it is a first-degree felony if the victim is younger. * Sexual conduct: The law prohibits sexual conduct when there is a relationship based on full- or half-blood; a stepfamily tie; an adoption; half or full aunt, uncle, brother or sister. * Marriage: Until September 2005, it was legal for a 14-year-old to marry with parental permission; the age then moved to 16. This applies, however, to legal marriages only. - Brooke Adams |
I agree with you, MizSterious, that what happens to the boys in this cult is just as heartbreaking, and maybe more so, than what happens to the girls.
I really hope that they can find some of these boys and be able to help them and also prosecute somebody for this evil practice.
***It just doesn’t seem like Utah’s heart is in this.***
To be expected. There is still a Mormon or two living in Utard. Since the practice of polygamy is considered sacred and will be a part of their glorious resurrection I wouldn’t expect them to vigorously prosecute it.
***So it’s not just about religious persecution of some group that *nobody likes*?***
After extensive consultation with authorities from both AZ and UT, Texas amended it’s laws when the FLDS purchased the ranch in El Dorado. If a law addressing people handing 15 year old girls off to be the plural wife of another is addressing a specific religion, then I’m fine with that. Let people cry religious persecution.
Neither was at the ranch; the arrest warrant was later canceled and a Colorado woman with a history of making false abuse claims is being investigated in connection with the hot-line calls.
But Allison Palmer, assistant DA, yesterday stated re: the Barlow warrant:
No arrests have been made in the case, although the one issued arrest warrant - for 50-year-old Dale Barlow - remains active, she said, rejecting previous reports that it had been dropped.
I think DA Palmer might be the one to know.
ACLU weighs in on Texas FLDS raid |
| The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune |
| Article Last Updated:05/07/2008 02:54:29 PM MDT |
| Posted: 1:16 PM- The American Civil Liberties Union has weighed in on the raid on a polygamous sect's ranch in Texas, saying that the men, women and children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have fundamental rights that may have been compromised. The ACLU said that while Texas authorities have the obligation to protect children from physical or sexual harm, the April 3 raid raised questions about the state's actions regarding the sect's right to freedom of religion and due process of law. "Based upon news reports and other available information, the ACLU has serious concerns that the state's actions so far have not adequately protected the fundamental rights at stake," the national organization said in a May 2 posting on its web site. The ACLU noted that the raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch was "prompted by a single allegation of abuse now reported most likely to have been made by someone who never resided at YFZ." Even so, parents have been separated from more than 460 children, have been placed in state custody in shelters throughout Texas, "without individual, adversarial hearings and without particularized evidence that they ever engaged in abuse or were likely to engage in abuse." The ACLU also questions the court-ordered DNA testing of every child and asserts that parents "have been pressured to consent to DNA testing if they wish to be reunited with their children who were forcibly separated from them. "State officials have an important obligation to protect children against abuse. However, such actions should not be indiscriminately targeted against a group as a whole - particularly when the group is perceived as being different or unusual. Actions should be based on concrete evidence of harm and not based upon prejudice against religious or other communities," the ACLU said. "Under these circumstances, it is essential for Texas officials to provide fair judicial proceedings that respect the constitutional rights of all involved - children, parents, and religious communities - while ensuring at the same time that children are protected against abuse where there is credible evidence of such abuse." The ACLU said it will "work to ensure that Texas officials act in a manner that is consistent with the important principles set forth above, including making our views known to the Texas courts at appropriate points in the judicial proceedings." |
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Source: The Salt Lake Tribune. |
Leave it to the ACLU to get on the wrong side of everything.
| States Increase Security Near Liverpool Shelter Housing Sect Kids |
| Created: Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 5:48 PM CDT |
|
HOUSTON -- Security has been doubled at a Liverpool shelter housing three dozen children removed from a West Texas polygamist sect.
Department of Public Safety officials are checking the identity of drivers and passengers in every vehicle that approaches the shelther Kidz Harbor, FOX 26 reports. Officials have not disclosed the reason behind the heightened security, but Child Protective Services says some of the children's mothers are now being allowed to visit it. The first custody hearings begin May 19th. More than 450 children were removed last month from a ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. State officials said more than half of the sect teens between 14 and 17 years old were pregnant or already had children. |
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Excerpt. Read the rest at source: MyFox Houston. |
States Increase Security Near Liverpool Shelter Housing Sect Kids
Curiouser and curiouser, isn’t it?
I wonder if they are concerned some mothers will take off with the kids? And have they verified the parentage of the children? Otherwise, why would they let them visit?
I sure have no idea. My thought was that they think someone might try to abduct some of the kids—but really, I’m just guessing.
I think it’s quite reasonable to beef up security now that adults from the cult will be travelling in and out of the property. Warren Jeffs is completely fanatical and still giving orders from prison. He’s got a significant core group of fanatical male followers who appear to be on the verge of losing their home, children, and in many cases their wives (some because they are minors, and others because they’ll choose to stay outside the cult in order to get custody of their children). In other words, there’s good reason to think there may be some men harboring the dangerous combination of fanaticism and desperation, and on top of that they’ve got the adult women trained to follow orders without question or hesitation. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to smuggle a bomb into the facility in order to set off an emergency evacuation of the children, creating the opportunity to grab some of them in the resulting chaos. Or smuggle one or more well-armed adult men into the complex, to hide and then make a run with the kids in the middle of the night, with a getaway vehicle waiting nearby.
Good points, GS
creepier and creepier.
The mothers are visiting. hmmm where are they staying and where are the fathers?
Which kid or kids having the incriminating DNA that will send the ‘big guys’ away for a long time?
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