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November 21, 2008 2:37:01 AM CST

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10 of Sect's 'Child Brides' Are Adults

Posted May 21, 08 3:00 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – Texas authorities have admitted that 10 of the "children" taken into custody from the Eldorado polygamist sect are actually adults—including one who is 27—and more could be reclassified this week, reports the Houston Chronicle. This development could weaken the Child Protective Services' case that the sect was forcing underage girls into marriage and sex. 

A CPS spokesman denies that the new admission could weaken the agency's case. "The numbers aren't important to us," he said. "CPS did not classify women as minors so that criminal investigators could interview them." Meanwhile, a sect spokesman said CPS has indicated that it may be returning to the ranch to look for more children. "These people never give up," he added.

Source Houston Chronicle

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A member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints walks by a law enforcement official as she departs the Tom Green County Courthouse.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Lydia Johnson, a mother of six children in state custody departs from the Tom Green County courthouse, Tuesday, May 20, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, left, follow a group of attorneys into the Tom Green County Courthouse, Monday, May 19, 2008, in San Angelo, Texas.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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Texas • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints • Yearning for Zion ranch • FLDS • polygamists • Child Protective Services • Eldorado


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