This is all starting to sound to me like local authorities ran amuck. I have lived in small towns and sparsly populated counties all my life and I have seen locals cook things up at the coffee shop to deal with folks they think need to be dealt with and they think they are the final authority on what is right and what needs to be done. I am wondering if that is what happened here to begin with and now this judge is playing to the Good Ol’ Boys that run that area. This could get real interesting before all is said and done.
The sad thing is if FLDS needed to be dealt with, it needed to be done properly so it would stick.
I am beginning to suspect collusion between the judge, the phone caller, the CPS, and the local police. Either that or sheer idiocy, but I am starting to lean toward the former.