FLDS

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Jeffs' Bride, 14, Ordered Into Foster Care

Parents let daughter marry sect leader at 12, authorities charge

(Newser) - A Texas judge has ordered a 14-year-old girl allegedly married to polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs at age 12 back into state custody, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. The judge said the parents of the girl, who was first taken into custody when the sect's compound was raided in April,...

5 More Jailed in Sect Child Abuse




5 More Jailed in Sect Child Abuse

Jul 29, 2008 4:15 AM CDT

5 More Jailed in Sect Child Abuse

FLDS members charged with sexual assualt, bigamy, concealing child abuse

(Newser) - Five members of a Texas polygamous sect charged in a child abuse investigation are in custody after surrendering to authorities, the Dallas Morning News reports. Four of the men are charged with sexually abusing girls under the age of 17. The fifth, said to be the physician at the sect's...

Sect Leader's Daughter Still in State Custody

As other kids return home, 16-year-old remains in foster care

(Newser) - The hundreds of kids returned to their FLDS-member parents over the past 2 days did not include one high-profile child: the 16-year-old daughter of sect leader Warren Jeffs. The girl's lawyer pushed to keep her in state custody because she has been sexually abused by an adult sect member—not...

Sect Parents Reuniting With Kids in Texas
Sect Parents Reuniting With Kids in Texas
updated
Jun 2, 2008 6:48 PM CDT

Sect Parents Reuniting With Kids in Texas

Meanwhile, church elder forbids all underage unions

(Newser) - As polygamist parents reunited with their kids in Texas today, a sect elder said the church will no longer allow underage marriages. But Willie Jessop called the sect misunderstood and insisted that past unions have all been mutual. Meanwhile, tearful parents held their children outside Texas foster sites after a...

Sect Kids Aren't Going Home
 Sect Kids Aren't Going Home 
update
May 30, 2008 9:51 PM CDT

Sect Kids Aren't Going Home

Lawyer objects at last minute to release of 460+ children

(Newser) - The parents of children taken from a polygamist ranch in Texas will not see their kids on Monday after all. At the last minute, a lawyer objected to the state's deal with the sect and stopped the judge from ordering the children's release. Now the judge plans to get them...

Sect Kids Should Go Home, Texas High Court Says

Justice uphold ruling saying state had no right to take sect children

(Newser) - The Texas Supreme Court agreed today that children from a polygamist sect should be returned to their parents, reports the Dallas Morning News. They could be home within days. The ruling leaves state officials with few legal options, though they could try to retain custody of some of the more...

Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred
 Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred 
May 29, 2008 12:39 PM CDT

Sect Moms Say Kids Scarred

State blasted ahead of ruling on whether it had right to take custody

(Newser) - Taking young children away from their parents has harmful effects, say mothers from the polygamist sect in Texas, and numerous studies agree—which is why federal and state guidelines require a “reasonable effort” to keep children with their parents before removing them. Texas authorities don't appear to have done...

Jeffs Photos Used to Bolster Custody Case
Jeffs Photos Used to Bolster Custody Case
Commentary
May 29, 2008 7:41 AM CDT

Jeffs Photos Used to Bolster Custody Case

Cheap publicity stunt, maybe, but parents of newborn took the bait

(Newser) - It was an obvious stunt by Texas child services: entering photos of Warren Jeffs kissing two "child brides" in a custody hearing for a newborn. Reeling from an appeals court ruling that they failed to show that 450 children were at risk, officials wanted to hype the "pervasive"...

12 Children Returned to Sect Parents

3 families reunited; not allowed to return to polygamist ranch

(Newser) - Texas has agreed to return a dozen of the children in its custody to their parents, members of the polygamist sect FLDS, but the state is fighting to hang on to hundreds more, the San Antonio Express-News reports. The reunited families won't be allowed to return to the sect's Yearning...

Texas Appeals to Keep Sect Kids in Custody

Challenge of ruling means case may go to state supreme court

(Newser) - Texas officials today appealed yesterday’s ruling that the state acted incorrectly when it took custody of 460 FLDS children, the San Antonio Express-News reports. The ruling could have meant family reunions within weeks, but today's emergency filing means the children could remain in foster care pending state supreme court...

Polygamy Kids Could Be Back Home in 10 Days

Texas must appeal surprise ruling or send children back

(Newser) - Yesterday's surprise court ruling in favor of a polygamous sect has Texas authorities scrambling, Time reports. An appeals judge ruled that the state had no right to seize children suspected of being sexually abused from the Yearning for Zion ranch. Officials now must appeal the ruling or return the children...

10 of Sect's 'Child Brides' Are Adults

But state may return to ranch to look for more children

(Newser) - Texas authorities have admitted that 10 of the "children" taken into custody from the Eldorado polygamist sect are actually adults—including one who is 27—and more could be reclassified this week, reports the Houston Chronicle. This development could weaken the Child Protective Services' case that the sect was...

Sect Parents Slam 'Vague' Custody Plans

Decry persecution, say Texas offering no clear way to reclaim kids

(Newser) - Hearings for the biggest child custody case in American history began yesterday and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints weren't happy with proceedings, the AP reports. Parents of the more than 460 children in state custody complained that the court's recommendations were too generalized and...

Polygamist 'Teen' Gives Birth
 Polygamist 'Teen' Gives Birth 
May 13, 2008 4:09 AM CDT

Polygamist 'Teen' Gives Birth

Sect member has her third child in state custody

(Newser) - Another young woman taken from a Texas polygamist sect has given birth while in state custody. The mom has claimed to be 22 years old, but state officials say she is only 17, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

DNA Tests on Polygamists Begin
 DNA Tests on Polygamists Begin 
Apr 21, 2008 4:37 AM CDT

DNA Tests on Polygamists Begin

Officials seek foster home for 416 children

(Newser) - Texas officials begin taking DNA samples today from 416 children removed from a  polygamist sect and from adults who lived with them. The tests will be used to sort out the parentage of the children in the confusing mix of families with multiple mothers on the sprawling Eldorado ranch, reports...

Texas Keeps Sect Kids for DNA Testing

Polygamous ranch forced children to obey, psychiatrist testifies

(Newser) - A judge ruled today that 416 kids seized at a polygamous ranch in Texas will be held for genetic testing, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. At the end of a 2-day custody hearing, Judge Barbara Walther said the tests were needed to sort out relationships between the sect's parents and...

Outside Sect, Life is Tough
Outside Sect, Life is Tough
Apr 17, 2008 6:00 PM CDT

Outside Sect, Life is Tough

Free from polygamous compounds, escaped women often turn to drugs and alcohol

(Newser) - Even for those women who escape the forced marriages and controlling patriarchy of polygamous sects like the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, life isn’t easy. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the mental burden, CNN reports. And some never leave because they’re programmed to think...

Police Fear Stonewall by Polygamist Settlers

Faithful see government as 'devil'

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs' hand-picked, devoted settlers may refuse to testify against his polygamist compound in Texas, officials fear—making it tough to win cases of suspected child abuse. "All these girls are taught from the cradle not to trust anybody from the outside—especially the government," Utah's attorney general...

Top 10 Crazy Cults
 Top 10 Crazy Cults 
Apr 12, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Top 10 Crazy Cults

Polygamists, UFOs, and apocalyptic prophesies abound

(Newser) - Experts are debating whether the polygamist sect raided in Texas last week is a cult. Meanwhile, LiveScience has cooked up a list of bona fide cults—the top 10 craziest of them all:
  1. Raëlians: Followers believe that UFOs spawned most religions and cloning can lead to reincarnation.

Sex Abuse 'Rampant' at Polygamist Ranch

Pubescent girls forced to 'marry' older men, say investigators

(Newser) - Young girls at a polygamous compound were readied for "spiritual marriages" to much older men as soon as they hit puberty, the AP reports. Papers submitted to a Texas court detail a "pattern of abuse" at the ranch, where young boys were forced to marry underage girls and...

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