Texas

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Sect Children Slowly Meet Outside World

Care workers advised to keep them away from TV—and red clothes

(Newser) - The last of the 462 children removed from the compound of a polygamous sect have been placed in foster care in 16 locations around Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports. The caregivers have been given lengthy instructions on how to treat the children, including keeping them away from TV, radio, and...

25 Moms ID'd as Minors in Polygamy Probe

Families separated as probe into rogue Mormon sect continues

(Newser) - Texas authorities have identified 25 more mothers from a polygamist ranch as underage girls, bringing the number of juveniles in custody to 460. The girls had initially claimed to be adults, Reuters reports. Officials are keeping hundreds of women and children from the polygamist compound in temporary custody in a...

Texas Moving Sect Kids Into Foster Care

Action taken before notifying lawyers; some bused to group homes

(Newser) - Texas authorities began moving children from a polygamist ranch to foster group homes around the state today. More than 100 of the children were bused to facilities, and the remaining 300 or so will likely follow later this week, the Houston Chronicle reports. The move comes on the second day...

Polygamist Sect Launches Online PR Campaign

Features photos of tanks and 'pioneer girls'

(Newser) - Members of the Texas polygamist community whose children were seized because of suspected abuse have taken their battle against authorities to the Internet, reports the Deseret News. The sect has launched two companion websites—one of them featuring photos and videos of crying children being led away, flanked by armed...

Polygamist Sect Men Break Silence
Polygamist
Sect Men
Break Silence

Polygamist Sect Men Break Silence

Members 'have been made very aware' of state marriage laws

(Newser) - Male members of the Texas polygamist sect say they weren’t aware that state law prohibits people under 18 from marrying until after the raid on their compound, CBS News reports. Three men from the Yearning for Zion ranch said on the Early Show that they'll cooperate with court-ordered DNA...

13-Year-Old Moms Among Girls From Polygamist Ranch

Custody hearing told girls believed having babies was their duty

(Newser) - Moms as young as 13 are among the 416 children removed from the Texas ranch of a polygamous sect, a child protection officer told a hearing yesterday. The state, making its case to keep the children away from the ranch, testified that a pregnant 14-year-old and a number of pregnant...

Polygamist Hearing Has Chaotic First Day

State plans to relocate sect's 416 children

(Newser) - Lawyers for the state of Texas told a chaotic, objection-filled hearing today they would press for psychiatric evaluations and genetic testing of all members of a polygamist sect, the New York Times reports. On the first day of a custody hearing to determine the fate of the sect's 416 children,...

Texas Officials Justify Splitting Sect Families

Child-welfare authorities cite need to break 'code of silence'

(Newser) - Texas family-services officials today defended their decision to separate the mothers and children removed from a polygamous Mormon sect last week as the only way to get at the truth about alleged child abuse, the Houston Chronicle reports. Fifty-seven of the 139 mothers were forced to leave the group of...

Jenna Picks de la Renta Design
 Jenna Picks de la Renta Design 

Jenna Picks de la Renta Design

First daughter makes traditional choice for May 10 Texas nuptials

(Newser) - Jenna Bush will walk down the aisle in a “casual” Oscar de la Renta gown that suits her "organic and low key" May 10 wedding. Think organza, embroidery, matte beading, and a small train, but don’t expect pictures. Her intended, Henry Hager, doesn’t want to see...

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch
Moms Return
to Polygamist Ranch

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch

Texas moves their kids to new shelter, plans legal battle

(Newser) - Nearly 140 women from a polygamist sect returned home today as officials moved their kids to a new shelter, the AP reports. The mothers had joined 416 children who were seized by Texas troopers 2 weeks ago and taken to a historic fort. Today officials moved the kids to a...

Poor Conditions Behind Moving of Sect's Kids

416 children being taken to undisclosed 'suitable' Texas location

(Newser) - Over 400 children seized from a polygamist sect are being bused to a more "suitable" location from their current West Texas housing, a state official tells the Houston Chronicle. Women inside Fort Concho complained over the weekend of cramped conditions at the temporary shelter. The state plans to ask...

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...

Rangers Talk to Polygamist Rape Suspect

But Barlow walks, claiming case of mistaken identity

(Newser) - Texas Rangers today questioned a man suspected of raping a girl at an Eldorado polygamist ranch, but let him go, CNN reports. Dale Barlow, 50, voluntarily met the Rangers in Utah, saying he is innocent of the charge that sparked a raid at the compound last week. "The Texas...

Police Defend Inaction at Polygamist Ranch

Bare dramatic details of raid

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities yesterday released dramatic details of the police raid that rescued children suspected of abuse at a polygamist ranch—and countered complaints that the action was too late. Some 60 men surrounded the ranch temple, weeping and praying, in the last day of the operation that seized 416...

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?
Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult? 

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?

Sociologist explores such groups and what keeps people there

(Newser) - While much of the media is calling the polygamous group raided in Texas a “sect,” some experts say it’s better defined as a cult, LiveScience reports. One scientist points out that the word “cult” is often avoided in academia for its negative connotations. But “if...

'Sex Bed' for Girls Found in Polygamist Temple

Temple used for sex with underage brides, tipster tells cops

(Newser) - Members of a polygamous cult had sex with underage girls inside the group's temple immediately after "spiritual weddings," according to court documents. Investigators found the bed, described by a tipster, in the temple of the Texas ranch. Men had sex with "brides" as young as 13, reports...

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...

Control, Isolation Kept Polygamist Wives Silent

Women in Texas compound have a fierce loyalty to leader Warren Jeffs

(Newser) - They can't cut their hair, wear red, watch TV, look at the Internet, or even laugh. They must be utterly subservient to their husbands. So why did the women now emerging reluctantly from a polygamous compound in Texas stay? They are under the almost godlike sway of jailed leader Warren...

534 Taken From Polygamist Ranch

Cops arrest one for interfering with evacuation

(Newser) - Texas officials have removed 534 people and arrested one in an ongoing raid of a polygamist ranch near Eldorado, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. But the man they collared is only charged with obstructing the 4-day raid, not committing the rape that sparked it. Meanwhile, at a nearby historical fort,...

Standoff Ends at Polygamist Compound

Police still searching for girl linked to abuse claim

(Newser) - Though "preparing for the worst," a SWAT team peacefully entered a polygamous sect's Texas compound after a tense standoff, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. They met limited resistance from members of the Mormon fundamentalist sect, and were continuing to search this morning for a 16-year-old girl believed to...

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