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

[Catty1]

the men will be in court - if they can get any of the present women to speak.

Or the DNA testing!

[NicoleLJ]

I hope if the women get the right counsling that they will talk. But it might not happen. They were raised and brainwashed extensively into this religion. And we might never know the full extent of the abuse many of them have gone through also. To many of them what went on may have seemed normal and ok because that is what they were raised with and brainwashed with. Which is the sad state of it. I just hope a few or more of them with the right kind of treatment and therapy can come forward and give a full account of what went on there so that the men can be charge with the full extent of their crimes.

One of the sad parts though is should the adult women be charged too for being a part of it or allowing it to happen? The thing that will have to be looked at is how brainwashed were they? Did they honestly know deep down that what was going on was wrong? If they didn't and they had no real contact with the outside then what can they be charged with? They were raised to believe such was ok. In fact that if they didn't they were going agianst God or some such thing. How ingrained was this in their minds so that we can fully see who all is at fault?

We could easily say that both parents are at fault because they were both adults and so on. But is that totally true? I am not saying it is or isn't. I personally have not made up my mind yet. But if the women were raised in this enviroment, with no influence to the outsides thinking, then how much fault can you place on them? Honest question. Just something to think about.
Nicole

[lizbud]

In light of the court order releasing the children back to their mothers. A cartoon from a few days ago.

[Medusa]

We could easily say that both parents are at fault because they were both adults and so on. But is that totally true? I am not saying it is or isn't. I personally have not made up my mind yet. But if the women were raised in this enviroment, with no influence to the outsides thinking, then how much fault can you place on them? Honest question. Just something to think about.
Nicole

Yes, that's right. You and I can look at the situation and say that the mothers are at fault as well but we weren't raised in that environment w/out outside influence. Ya don't know what ya don't know. If, as adults, they joined this organization (I don't know if you can join; I'm just guessing here), then, of course, they're culpable. It's such a convoluted situation and the ones who suffer are the ones who have already suffered enough.

Yesterday I saw on the news photos of Warren Jeffs w/an 11 or 12 year old girl; her exact age hadn't been determined yet. He was kissing her on the mouth like a husband would kiss his wife. How that can be perceived as anything other than abuse is beyond me. It brought tears to my eyes. Jeffs should be worried about his safety in prison, that's for sure.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Yesterday I saw on the news photos of Warren Jeffs w/an 11 or 12 year old girl; her exact age hadn't been determined yet. He was kissing her on the mouth like a husband would kiss his wife. How that can be perceived as anything other than abuse is beyond me. It brought tears to my eyes. Jeffs should be worried about his safety in prison, that's for sure.

I saw that too. Am I wrong or did the girl look pregnant? She looked it to me anyway.

[Medusa]

I saw that too. Am I wrong or did the girl look pregnant? She looked it to me anyway.

I don't know, I didn't notice. That would be even more tragic.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

It was just that in the pic where he was holding her off her feet, her tummy looked awfully big. I sure hope she's not expecting too.

[smokey the elder]

If Jeffs was acting like that to an 11 year old, isn't that statutory rape? I think the big tangle is going to take elaborate DNA testing to unravel, since those people all look like they are closely related. Maybe the state was too ham-fisted going in there, but this is Texas, after all... (Apologies to any of our members from that state!)

If the women grew up in the "cult" and never knew any different, then I don't think they should be liable. I wonder if it would be possible to find any of the rejected boys/young men and have them testify about conditions in the compound. It would provide a different perspective, and the males may have been "deprogrammed" to a certain extent.

[Medusa]

I wonder if it would be possible to find any of the rejected boys/young men and have them testify about conditions in the compound. It would provide a different perspective, and the males may have been "deprogrammed" to a certain extent.

Dr. Phil had a couple of the boys on his show and I believe they had been members of this group, although I can't be certain. Their stories were just as chilling.