Posted on 06/07/2008 4:39:31 PM PDT by JRochelle
Gov. Rick Perry hinted Thursday that members of a polygamist sect whose children were recently returned amid a botched sex-abuse investigation should pack their bags, a newspaper reported.
Perry, who was in La Baule, France, for a European business conference, said that the state of Texas has an obligation to protect young women from being forced into marriage and underage sex, The Dallas Morning News reported in its online edition.
He also warned members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that child sex abuse won't be tolerated and even suggested that followers of the renegade Mormon sect may want to get out.
"If you are going to conduct yourself that way, we are going to prosecute you," Perry said. "If you don't want to be prosecuted for those activities, then maybe Texas is not the place you need to consider calling home."
Willie Jessop, an FLDS elder who lives in Utah, said Perry's remarks were shocking, particularly given a Texas Supreme Court ruling that forced this week's return of 440 sect children on the grounds that child welfare officials provided scant evidence that the children were in danger.
"It's an outrage that he should even make such gross and broad allegations," Jessop said. "He's listening to people that tell lies about the FLDS."
FLDS officials have accused the state of persecuting sect members for their religious beliefs.
Texas authorities raided the sprawling compound in west Texas in early April after three calls to a domestic abuse hot line, purportedly from a 16-year-old mother who said she was being abused by her middle-aged husband. The calls are now being investigated as a hoax.
Perry said that using the information state authorities had at the time, "they acted with the best interest of those children."
"If responsibility needs to be taken for (court edicts) saying that we stepped across some legal line, I'll certainly take that responsibility," the governor said.
Jessop, who has insisted that children at the ranch were not mistreated, has sidestepped questions about underage marriages at the Yearning for Zion ranch. But he did announce this week that the church would no longer sanction marriages of any girl too young to give legal consent.
Though the children have been returned, a criminal investigation continues.
I believe the state is the only one to be proven wrong so far in this case.
Yes, I can’t remember which country that was. France maybe?
Nah it will be in Federal Court and the Clinton appointees will be happy to stick it to Texas.
I don’t remember. He sure seems to be traveling a lot lately though.
Maybe he’s auditioning for Secretary of State! I think his ambitions go far beyond Texas.
Yet he turns a blind eye to people illegally crossing our border every minute of the day and night.
Uh Huh. I think SOS is a tad too low though.
LOL, what do you think he has in mind? VP?
It is a Federal case, federal jury.
I bet a change of venue out of Texas is easy. Every single Texan has a financial stake in the outcome and can not be expected to be neutral.
This sounds like “all coloreds leave town by sundown...” and by the by... what is the governor of Texas doing at a European business conference when his state is being infiltrated by illegal aliens.. who often commit real crimes that can be proven with actual evidence.
I liked the part where he says he is going to prosecute them, before there has even been a criminal investigation. I thought that the CPS acted stupidly, but it seems like the Governor is in competition with them for the award.
Isn't there a saying about the fish rotting from the head first?
He is auditioning for something, but I don't think he has the popularity in Texas to "deliver it" to a presidential candidate, for instance. Maybe he has his eye on Kay Bailey's senate seat? In any case, his is a mental and political lightweight. I think he is much more sold on himself than anyone else is. Once he can't deliver spoils anymore, he will dry up and fade away (except for his hair, which will live on and begin its own series of adventures).
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Send treats to the troops...
Great because you did it!
www.AnySoldier.com
I live in Texas and strongly disagree with Gov Perry about TTC, HPV vaccine, and his views on border enforcement. He is correct on this one though.
FLDS might be more at home in Arkansas where it is common for 14 year old girls to marry family members and have babies.
“We don’t like you. Get out.:
Who’s we?
FLDS might be more at home in Arkansas where it is common for 14 year old girls to marry family members and have babies.
Not to worry the truthful FLDS leadership has proclaimed they won’t be allowing the marriage of underage girls any longer..... Now we know they wouldn’t lie about what they are going to do in the future. Now would they?
‘Had they followed due process they would not have had this trouble.”
novel concept, the State of Tx appears to be above the law. They took 430+ kids from their families without due process and in violation of the law. They have now placed restrictions on those families without any evidence of a crime.
Polygamy is destructive. Child rape is worthy of the death penalty. Uncontrolled governments have killed far more people than either of those.
“FLDS might be more at home in Arkansas where it is common for 14 year old girls to marry family members and have babies.’
Oh cmon, we all know that middle aged men from Arkansas prefer interns.
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