Officials Tell How Sect in West Texas Was Raided
SAN ANGELO, Tex. — For years, the veiled world behind the doors of a fundamentalist Mormon
polygamist temple tantalized local imaginations in the Hill Country south of here.
On Thursday, a Texas ranger described in detail what occurred last week when law enforcement officers, responding to a call for help from a 16-year-old who said she was being sexually abused in the compound, sought entry.
In essence, Capt. Barry Caver of the
Texas Public Safety Department said at a news conference here, the officers knocked and asked for a key. The church members quietly said no.
“They opted not to do that because they would be aiding or assisting us in the desecration of their worship place,” Captain Caver said.
The authorities called in a locksmith to open the gate, but they were unable to move the deadbolts to open the front doors of the temple. They tried to use a “jaws of life” tool, normally used to remove people trapped in cars after accidents, to open the doors. But the doors were too tightly constructed, Captain Caver said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/us...rssnyt&emc=rss
POLYGAMIST COMPOUND
Texas Authorities Are Unsure Where Girl Caller Is
SAN ANGELO, Tex., April 10 --
Texas law enforcement authorities have yet to find the teenage mother whose call to authorities sparked the raid on a polygamist sect's compound that resulted in the largest child removal in the state's history.
The 16-year-old girl has been identified in court documents, but neither child protective services officials nor law enforcement officers have confirmed her presence among the 416 children removed from the ranch, authorities said Thursday. Darrel Azar, spokesman for Texas Family and Protective Services, said the agency believes she is among the children but that, given the allegations, "she may be reticent to identify herself."
"We think we may have her, and we hope that we have her," Azar said. "But it's going to take time for these children to open up."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...nav=rss_nation
Threaded Mode
