Child welfare in Texas removes children from polygamist compound UPDATE #13

[caseysmom]

Shepgirl, Honestly you are pretty new here to be saying how this forum should be run and coming on here insulting whole groups of people.

[Catty1]

shepgirl - this is the post from Karen, the moderator, when the Dog House forum was created. I know you are new, and this spells out why it is here. And yup, religion and politics are mentioned in it, among other things.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=23125

We have created a new forum for any post that is in some way controversial, upsetting, or just makes us go eeeew! In it are threads about the war, debates and arguments about religion, patriotism and politics, and the recipe for "poop cake."

Those posts have been "sent to The Dog House." If you are easily upset, The Dog House is not a place you want to go.

We do not mean any offense to dogs in naming it "The Dog House."

Pet Talk is designed to be a friendly place for people who know how special pets really are. It's not a suitable place for discussing the nature of war, which religion is "the true religion," or truly controversial subjects.

Many of our members, however, are compelled to discuss these issues. We have created "The Dog House" so that our members may share their thoughts in a friendly, caring considerate manner.

Don't be offended if your post is moved into The Dog House. If you are upset by a particular post in another forum, and think it needs to be sent to The Dog House, you can Private Message or email me or Paul. We know every pet is special, and every member of Pet Talk is special, too. We are just trying to make Pet Talk the friendliest place we can for all our members.

[shepgirl]

Thanks for posting this Catty. I actually think my post might be better in the "DOGHOUSE" part of the forum. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run the forum as was mentioned but I myself prefer to discuss dogs I was only dicussing the topic because of what happened in Texas and the whole thing was so offensive. I get pretty rattled when kids get abused.

[Karen]

Thanks for posting this Catty. I actually think my post might be better in the "DOGHOUSE" part of the forum. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run the forum as was mentioned but I myself prefer to discuss dogs I was only dicussing the topic because of what happened in Texas and the whole thing was so offensive. I get pretty rattled when kids get abused.

This whole thread IS in the "Dog House" forum.

[lizbud]

Well, back to the subject of this thread: This is an article about an
upcoming look inside the lives of the women & children.



FLDS polygamy sect gets a closer look - and it's chilling
With their long braids and old-fashioned dresses, the women of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Texas project an image of clean-scrubbed, prairie wholesomeness.

Given that these women and their children look like they’ve stepped out of etchings from “Little House on the Prairie," you have to wonder, could what went on at the FLDS’ Yearning for Zion compound really have been that bad?

The answer is yes, if several former FLDS women interviewed for a Tuesday documentary on WE are to be believed.


This week’s episode of the WE documentary series “The Secret Lives of Women,” which airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the cable channel, examines the world of the breakaway polygamist cult. And this documentary does make the case that the FLDS group is a cult, complete with a prophet who has made doom-laden pronouncements about the necessity of “blood sacrifice” by his followers.

The chaos created by Texas authorities, who recently stepped in and removed hundreds of children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch after an abuse complaint was called in to the state’s child protective services hotline, is unfortunate, but the documentary also makes the case that the children of this secretive, controlling sect especially the young girls, are and were at risk for many different kinds of abuse.

The hourlong film features in-depth interviews with Flora Jessop, who ran away from an FLDS settlement at age 16 and for decades has been an activist helping women and children leave the group. Her relative, Carolyn Jessop, is also interviewed; Carolyn is the author of the current bestseller “Escape,” which tells the story of how she just barely managed to leave a violent, loveless FLDS marriage with her eight children in tow.

This workmanlike documentary is marred by a terribly tinny, cheesy soundtrack and some sloppy, choppy editing (though what I viewed was an rough cut of the episode, so perhaps that’s been remedied). Still, what the Jessop women have to say is fascinating – and frightening.

Flora, Carolyn and others with knowledge of the group say that backbreaking labor is the norm at FLDS compounds (even for children), and physical violence is apparently routine. Carolyn says that her “sister-wives” frequently punished her for her transgressions by beating her children. Her husband, FLDS leader Merril Jessop, made her his fourth wife when she was 18, and throughout her eight pregnancies, she was denounced by other women when she experienced severe nausea and vomiting (this was a sign of her lack of faith, she was told).

Carolyn was blamed as a “sinful mother” when she gave birth to a baby with disabilities (she was encouraged to let the child die). Flora talks about her sister, who was brutally raped and then spirited away to a FLDS compound in Canada. Seven years later, the activist is still trying to find and save her sister.

Perhaps the saddest revelation is that mothers are encouraged to keep their many children at arms’ length – hugging and kissing and other signs of affection are strongly discouraged. No one can show more love for a family member than they can for the FLDS’ self-styled prophet, Warren Jeffs, who was convicted in 2007 of being an accomplice to rape. As for the many “excess” boys that the compound produces, according to this film and other news reports, they are routinely cast out so that a few male leaders can keep absolute control of the FLDS flock, which is permitted almost no contact with the outside world.

All in all, this is one case in which the facts may be even scarier and more dramatic than what’s been conveyed in the mainstream media coverage of the FLDS affair

[NicoleLJ]

Here is an update from an alberta paper:

http://cp.horizon-news.com/lethheral...925972&ctgry=w

Officials say 31 teen polygamist sect girls in Texas are pregnant or had baby
By: The Canadian Press
at 5:49 on April 29, 2008, EDT.



SAN ANTONIO - Texas child welfare officials say almost 60 per cent of the underage girls taken in a raid on a polygamist compound in west Texas either have children or are pregnant.

Of the 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who are in state custody, 31 either have given birth or are expecting, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar.

"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," Azar said Monday after releasing the latest figures.

Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. A girl can get married with parental permission at 16, but none of these girls is believed to have a legal marriage under state law.

Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado and say the state's actions are a form of religious persecution.

State officials took custody of all 463 children at the ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying a pattern of teen girls forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.

FLDS spokesman Rod Parker said he does not believe the CPS count is accurate. He said that from talking to ranch residents, he believes at least 17 of the girls may actually be adults but have been labelled by child welfare authorities as minors.

Agency officials have called into question claims of adulthood among the girls since the raid and have in some cases disputed documentation provided, saying the girls look younger than 18. Because many FLDS members share similar names and have complicated family relationships, identifying all of the children taken into custody has been a challenge.

"I do have serious questions about how they are determining age in there," said Parker, who is trying to get a better count from FLDS families.

He said the sect is at a disadvantage in proving names and ages because law enforcement confiscated every document that might show family relationships.

The latest information from CPS comes with "absolutely nothing to back it up other than it's coming from them, and they think we should trust them," Parker said.

All the children are supposed to get individual hearings before June 5 to help determine if they'll stay in state custody or if their parents may be able to take steps to regain custody.

Civil liberties groups and lawyers for the children have criticized the state for sweeping all the children, from nursing infants to teen boys, into foster care when only teen girls are alleged to have been sexually abused.

No one has been charged since the raid, which was prompted by a series of calls to a domestic abuse hotline, purportedly from a 16-year-old girl forced into a marriage recognized only by the sect with a man three times her age. That girl has not been found and authorities are investigating whether the call was a hoax.

On Monday, CPS also revised its total count of children in state custody to 463, up one from Friday. Azar said the change resulted from finally getting the children out of temporary housing in the San Angelo Coliseum and into foster facilities around the state where they could get a more accurate count.

Of the 463 children, 250 are girls and 213 are boys. Children 13 and younger are about evenly split - 197 girls and 196 boys - but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range.

Azar said the numbers could still change slightly because authorities have not seen documentation on all the children and have struggled to positively identify everyone.

The sect, which broke from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints more than a century ago, believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven. Its leader, Warren Jeffs, is revered as a prophet. Jeffs was convicted last year in Utah of forcing a 14-year-old girl into marriage with an older cousin.

[NicoleLJ]

This is so sickening and sad. I hope all the children are in serious counsling. And I think the adult women should be too.
Nicole