Posted on 07/29/2008 6:44:21 AM PDT by ricks_place
Five indicted members of a West Texas polygamist sect turned themselves in to authorities Monday to face charges related to allegations of child sexual abuse.
The five men were indicted last week with Warren Jeffs, the already-jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The charges stem from a state investigation into allegations that the sect forced underage girls into marriage and motherhood with much older men.
State authorities raided the FLDS's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado on April 3, eventually sweeping more than 400 children into foster care until the state Supreme Court said officials had overreached and sent the children home.
Raymond Merrill Jessop, 36, Allan Eugene Keate, 56, Michael George Emack, 57, and Merrill Leroy Jessop, 33, were charged with one count each of sexual assault of a child, a felony punishable by a sentence ranging from five to 99 years or life in prison. Their bond was set at $100,000 each.
Merrill Leroy Jessop also was charged with bigamy, a felony with the same potential penalties as the sexual assault charge.
Lloyd Hammon Barlow, 38, the ranch's onsite physician, was charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. His bond was set at $5,000.
Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday declined to provide details of what the men were accused of doing.
Efforts to find the men's attorneys were not immediately successful. A message left for FLDS attorney Rod Parker was not immediately returned.
Abbott said the state would try to have Jeffs extradited to Texas to face a charge of sexual assault of a child.
Last week's charges were the first since the April raid.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
“To their credit, CPS didn’t incinerate them. “
Wow. You’re really getting out there, now.
I do under stand that. I meant in the moral sense.
Really? How many years do we have to look back to see a out-of-control government agency do just that?
“I meant in the moral sense.”
Oh. So many of the posts have been about the legality of the actions, and not about the moral sense of it.
How was this then, morally wrong?
Is it just the Texas CPS, or the CPS in all states?
400 children kidnapped and held for weeks, all under the guise of helping them.
I realize your morality sees nothing wrong with it, but mine does.
Your family is the target of this same group of folks too. It's just going to take a bit for them to get to your doorstep, and it may be your grandkids instead of your kids, but there are so many fools defending them, and even cheering them on that the end result of them showing up on you doorstep is nearly inevitable.
“400 children kidnapped and held for weeks, all under the guise of helping them.”
400 children taken into protective custody, and held for weeks, while undergoing investigation by CPS, and being given the best care possible, along with concerns that they maintain their ‘lifestyle’ and ‘religious’ policies.
Even if we take it worded your way, that doesn’t make old men having sex with minors, morally right.
If we were going by morals, and not the law, there would be some FLDS men hanging from a rope.
Even though it hasn't been proved, let's take that as a fact for sake of discussion.
That doesn't justify the out-of-control actions taken by CPS. Those thugs pose a much greater danger to families than any and all FLDS members.
There are tens of thousand of those CPS type thugs, and they work for organizations that will exist long after you and I are gone. They're going to show up on your families doorstep too.
Don't let your kids, grandkids know you're cheering them on.
Not sure what your referring too.
You said all CPS were just thugs, and out of control.
Is that just in Texas, or in every state?
I am sure they will, after the criminal proceedings have been concluded.
Call names, accuse others of the things you’re doing. It is true that the visible, obvious evidence was that under age girls were being impregnated by men who could only have sex with them by rape.
The 3rd Court of Appeals decreed that that the other children were in no imminent physical danger - it appears that the men only rape girls past puberty when their prophet tells them to.
The SC did rule that the judge could set conditions for their return to their mothers. Before the children could be returned, one girl was legally separated from her abuser and other girls and their babies were identified and their ages were determined. Indictments and arrests followed as the Grand Jury was able.
Switched name brands? What are you talking about?
CPS took these women, based on the Judge’s orders, so you can’t blame them. At the time, they had the legal authority to do what they did.
If you can show me where the judges order says that it was OK to force adult women into custody, I will retract everything I have said on these threads. Obviously though you are either lying or ignorant. I happen to think both.
CPS took these women, based on the Judge’s orders, so you can’t blame them. At the time, they had the legal authority to do what they did.
Repeating a lie doesn't make it true : ) It just makes you a serial reprobate.
Why have none of these women filed suit against the authorities for kidnapping, if what you say is true?
First of all at least one did. That was why the Supreme Court ordered their release. Second of all they would be stupid to initiate a civil suit with criminal charges pending. They aren't stupid, unlike many of the posters on your side.
Why aren't you pushing to have them taken into custody then?
What about the prevs out there that are emboldened by the court's rulings?
That is what happens when organizations like CPS flout the law. Why aren't you calling for their arrests?
What I'm trying to tell you is, this isn't nearly as cut and dried as you wish it would be. Nor is it going to go down like you want.
I thought they were going to get the FLDS on tax evasion. Life is always messy.
What are you talking about? Who have I accused of obeying the law? Your fellow cabal members have called me names and even accused me of being a pervert. I have been incredibly restrained.
It is true that the visible, obvious evidence was that under age girls were being impregnated by men who could only have sex with them by rape.
The 3rd Court of Appeals decreed that that the other children were in no imminent physical danger - it appears that the men only rape girls past puberty when their prophet tells them to.
Your second statement demonstrates that the court rejected your first statement. Do you have comprehension problems?
Your statement also contradicts your earlier statement that pre pubescent children were in imminent danger. Do you know what puberty is? You seem to be having a problem with concept.
Are you trying to claim that police officers were not involved in enforcing the warrants and seizing the women and children? Your ignorance is truly astounding.
It was done legally.
Then why did the Supreme Court state that the Women and Children had to be returned?
Since both of your premises are wrong, the rest of your statement has no meaning.
You need to wake up to reality.
I only follow it casually, so I can't say it's every state.
Recently, CPS workers in Denver kidnapped a kid out of his front yard as he was playing. CO has a 'Make my Day' law, so they were at risk for their lives if the parents had come out with a gun. CPS didn't notify the parents until they were safely away. CPS heard through the grapevine that the parents were teaching the kid things CPS didn't approve of so they snatched him.
These kinds of stories hit the news regularly.
U CAN SEE (these excesses) 2. You just need to open your eyes.
They've set a course for your front door, and unless someone puts the brakes on, it's just a matter of time till they get to your house.
Kidnapping? I'm not convinced that it applies here. Texas authorities obviously gathered strong evidence when they combed through the YFZ ranch.
The indictments of, at present, six men, must have been based on that evidence. Though they haven't been tried yet, many who are in a position to know are all in agreement about the indoctrination; obligation to obey; arranged marriages of young girls (some underage); outward approval of their mothers/fathers; and the dismissal of young boys who have no where to go.
Anyone who believes all these children born and reared in this environment are, or will be, abused in one way or another---are not ignorant.
"They" refers to the kids and young wives, I would presume.
Have you ever considered that these children are victims of Warren Jeffs, or any FLDS "bishop"?
No, you are not rational. The fact seems to be that the creepy cultists only rape post-pubescent but under age girls. The courts decided that there was no imminent physical danger to the other under age children.
I don’t recall saying that the children were in imminent physical danger. Do you have a reference?
However, since you bring it up, the danger is teaching the children to lie about their ages, mothers and fathers, the risk to all the children that the elders will decide to rip their families apart to give them to another man, and the further risk that some decree will come from Merrill or Willie that the next set of daughter exchanges. While possibly imminent, it’s not “physical.”
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