Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

[Drolefille]

I think that the pregnant teens/teen mothers are allowed to stay with their children. If they do make a fitness ruling it'll be a whole separate process at this point.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Official: History of injuries to polygamist kids

At least 41 had broken bones; possible sex abuse of boys investigated

AUSTIN, Texas - The chief of protective services in Texas told state legislators Wednesday that investigators have uncovered a history of physical injuries, including broken bones, in children taken from a polygamous sect.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24388249/

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Official: History of injuries to polygamist kids

At least 41 had broken bones; possible sex abuse of boys investigated

AUSTIN, Texas - The chief of protective services in Texas told state legislators Wednesday that investigators have uncovered a history of physical injuries, including broken bones, in children taken from a polygamous sect.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24388249/

From the article:

The agency later released more information on its Web site, stating that:

• "Medical exams and reports by the children indicate that at least 41 children have had broken bones in the past. We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information, but it is cause for concern and something we’ll continue to examine."
• "Based on interviews with the children and journal entries found at the ranch, we are continuing to look into the possible sexual abuse of some young boys."

[DeltAlum]

According to various news reports, the young woman had the baby. I haven't heard about custody -- temporary or other.

Also, in fairness, NBC News pointed out that many doctors say that broken bones in what is about 10% of the children may not be that out of line for children who basically live on a farm.

I have no other information or statistics, just a couple things I heard on radio and TV today.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Official: History of injuries to polygamist kids

At least 41 had broken bones; possible sex abuse of boys investigated

AUSTIN, Texas - The chief of protective services in Texas told state legislators Wednesday that investigators have uncovered a history of physical injuries, including broken bones, in children taken from a polygamous sect.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24388249/

CNN has story as well:
Sect's boys may have been abused too, agency says

CNN) -- Investigators are looking into the possible sexual abuse of some of the boys taken from a polygamist sect's ranch in Texas and into how several children apparently suffered broken bones while there, officials said Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/30/...use/index.html
Here is something I have not seen before:
The ranch has a medical clinic staffed by a licensed physician who is able to treat simple fractures and consults with non-FLDS specialists in nearby San Angelo for serious cases, he said. FLDS residents are also sent to San Angelo for emergency treatment.
Parker said he asked the doctor about the reports of broken bones.
The doctor described the fractures as "run-of-the-mill injuries," Parker said.
"They are very active children," he said. "They're kids, and they play; they fall down, and they get injuries. ... To suggest that they're all sitting around quietly and their bones are breaking -- there's no evidence of that."


Tom Vick, who is on the board of directors for the Texas State Bar and is charged with organizing the attorneys to represent the children, said the reports would need to be reviewed

[jon1856]

Polygamists erred when they messed with Texas

ELDORADO, Texas (Reuters) - When a renegade Mormon sect was looking for a quiet place to live out its polygamous beliefs, it made a Texas-sized mistake when it picked this state to move to.
Texas responded by raising the age at which children can legally get married with parental consent, and law enforcement agencies immediately put the sect in its crosshairs........
http://www.reuters.com/article/inDep...nnel=0&sp=true

[jon1856]

Polygamist Sect Newborn Ordered Into State Custody

SAN ANTONIO — A judge ordered that the baby boy born to a teenager taken from a polygamist sect's ranch in West Texas be placed in state custody, according to documents released Thursday.
Texas District Judge Barbara Walther signed the order Wednesday giving the state custody of the 1-day-old infant born to a teen believed to be 15 or 16 years old.
The girl has claimed to be 18 and based on a bishop's record used during the custody hearing two weeks ago, she would be 18 now. But officials believe she is younger and placed her in foster care with other children taken from the ranch.......
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353919,00.html

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Official: History of injuries to polygamist kids

At least 41 had broken bones; possible sex abuse of boys investigated


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24388249/

Weren't there like 463 kids? That is like 9% of them. Isn't that common for kids? It is not like it says 41 CURRENTLY have broken bones, but kids have injuries all the time, and a lot of people break a bone with they are a kid. I bet its more then 9%

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by a.e.B.O.T.

Weren't there like 463 kids? That is like 9% of them. Isn't that common for kids? It is not like it says 41 CURRENTLY have broken bones, but kids have injuries all the time, and a lot of people break a bone with they are a kid. I bet its more then 9%

Rather interesting question a.e.B.O.T.
And since you are willing to bet on it, will you let us know what your research finds?

[ComradesTrue]

One news report on this indicated that 1/4 of girls and (forgive me here, don't remember exactly what they said) 1/3 to 1/2 of boys get a broken bone sometime during childhood. That is the population at-large.

However... they also reported that many of those with broken bones in the compound were very, very young children. In other words... too young for them to happen because they fell out of a tree, etc., and thus implying abuse.

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by jon1856

Rather interesting question a.e.B.O.T.
And since you are willing to bet on it, will you let us know what your research finds?

Lol, I said "I bet..." as in, I don't have research fact, as in an assumption... but does anyone else think nine percent of kids have broken a bone once in their life is not that uncommon? Now the 35 girls pregnant in a controlled society like that, well, that is suspicious. (In my high school, not so suspicious)

[RU OX Alum]

i'd bet they hurt the boys in more ways than just breaking their bones

[jon1856]

Utah, Arizona say polygamist sect fled crackdowns

If Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has heard it once, he's heard it 100 times: Utah and Arizona should have conducted their own Texas-style anti-polygamy raid years ago.


After all, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints resided for nearly a century on the Utah-Arizona border before building a compound in Eldorado, Texas.
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs...727258444/1001

Polygamous dad speaks out month after ranch raid
ELDORADO, Texas - As Richard Barlow walked eight of his children to a bus that would take them away from the YFZ Ranch, he gave each one advice.
"I spoke very freely. I said, 'Let us be at peace,' " he said.
And: "Be strong."
That was a month ago. Today his children are scattered from one end of Texas to the other and he and his wife, Susan, are desperate to see them.
Only a few men who lived with their families at the ranch, all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have spoken out since the April 3 raid that led to removal of 464 children because of abuse allegations. Most fear doing so will make them targets of prosecution or hamper their efforts to bring their children home.
But Barlow, 40, decided to take that risk to share how the event has torn apart his family.
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_9155045

States divided on approach to polygamous sect

Law officers in Arizona and Utah say their method of confronting the FLDS must differ from that of Texas.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0505/p...ju.html?page=1

The FLDS argument will not hold up

By MARCI HAMILTON
Special to the Star-Telegram

When Texas authorities entered the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch, one of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) compounds, on April 3, they did so using a warrant based on calls from a person who alleged that she was an underage girl being subjected to physical and sexual abuse, including rape, at the ranch.
Once the authorities entered, they discovered pregnant underage girls, girls with more than one child, papers indicating that rampant polygamy was occurring at YFZ, and even a document involving cyanide poisoning. The authorities then intelligently decided to remove all of the children from a situation that posed obvious and serious danger to them.
Lawyers for the FLDS members have been arguing in the press that the entry and removal of the children constituted a "massive" violation of due process. Others have argued that the authorities' actions represent the unfair targeting of one religion. Each of these arguments is singularly misguided.
http://www.star-telegram.com/245/v-p...ry/620718.html

S.D. town watches polygamist sect

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY,
USA TODAY
Posted: 2008-04-28 07:16:32
Just down the dirt road that passes Cookie Hickstein's home, an isolated group of neighbors has drawn intense interest here in the sparsely populated Black Hills.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) has put roots on 140 acres of rugged territory. It is the same sect as at the ranch near Eldorado, Texas, where the practice of men taking multiple wives and allegations of sexual abuse of underage girls have sparked a custody battle over more than 400 children.

No such allegations have been made here, but local police worry about whether they can do their job when many of the people in their jurisdiction live in a closed, secretive society.

"It's difficult," Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler says. "They don't just open their doors. It's a locked-down operation, a locked fence. -- I don't get precise answers, and yes, that concerns me."


http://news.aol.com/story/_a/sd-town...28071609990077

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

i'd bet they hurt the boys in more ways than just breaking their bones

I'm not saying they have or haven't. Just saying the 9% broken bone thing seems to be a little thin in my opinion.