Polygamy in Eldorado

The raid on the Texas compound of a polygamist sect has similar communities worried, reports the New York Times . Groups of polygamists belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints live along the Utah-Arizona border and many fear that the crackdown on their Texas brethren means they could be next as the federal government leans on states to get tough on illegal practices. More »

A husband in the Texas polygamist ranch where children were seized to protect them from suspected child abuse has 36 kids and 21 wives—with the youngest 43 years his junior, reports CNN. The information on the 67-year-old member—whose youngest child is 6 months old—is included on a "bishop's list" of families kept by the sect. The "bishop" is believed to be leader Warren Jeffs, serving time as an accomplice to child rape. More »

Of 463 children seized from a Texas polygamist compound, 41 show evidence of broken bones at a young age, the Dallas Morning News reports. "Several of these fractures have been found in very young children," said the head of Child Protective Services, which also said it's looking into possible sexual abuse of sect boys. More »

One of the teens taken from a polygamist sect in Texas gave birth to a boy today as state police stood guard outside her hospital room, the Houston Chronicle reports. State officials say the mother is younger than 18 and that she will be taken to a foster care facility with her newborn to await a custody hearing, the AP notes. A sect spokesman says the girl is 18. More »

Of 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 taken from a polygamist sect in Texas, 31 have had children or are pregnant, the Houston Chronicle reports. Officials announced that the last of the 463 minors taken from the El Dorado ranch had been bused to foster homes after an appellate court denied the mothers’ motion for emergency relief. More »

The polygamous sect currently under investigation in Eldorado, Texas, has a sister compound in Pringle, SD—and it's making locals queasy, USA Today reports. The Pringle compound was started by the same leader in 2003, and is valued over $4.5 million. "They don't just open their doors," says the local sheriff, adding that there have been no abuse allegations. "It's a locked-down operation." More »

The women’s clothes from the Texas polygamist compound call to mind both Little House on the Prairie and prison garb. Yet there’s something elaborate, or even flamboyant, in the carefully crafted styles that set these women so distinctly at odds with modern culture, writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post. In a sect that uses cell phones and sneakers, why not jeans and zippers? More »

The last of the 462 children removed from the compound of a polygamous sect have been placed in foster care in 16 locations around Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports. The caregivers have been given lengthy instructions on how to treat the children, including keeping them away from TV, radio, and the Internet, at least at first, and avoiding red clothing, as the sect believes that color is reserved for Jesus to wear on his return. More »

Texas authorities have identified 25 more mothers from a polygamist ranch as underage girls, bringing the number of juveniles in custody to 460. The girls had initially claimed to be adults, Reuters reports. Officials are keeping hundreds of women and children from the polygamist compound in temporary custody in a rodeo stadium, under heavy guard. More »

Some of the dramatic calls thought to be from an abused teen that sparked a raid on a Texas polygamist ranch have been traced to a cell phone number previously used by a well-known hoaxer, the Denver Post reports. Court documents reveal that the 33-year-old woman has a history of making phony calls to crisis hotlines, claiming to be an abused teen. More »

Texas authorities began moving children from a polygamist ranch to foster group homes around the state today. More than 100 of the children were bused to facilities, and the remaining 300 or so will likely follow later this week, the Houston Chronicle reports. The move comes on the second day of DNA testing of sect members to unravel family histories. More »

Members of the Texas polygamist community whose children were seized because of suspected abuse have taken their battle against authorities to the Internet, reports the Deseret News . The sect has launched two companion websites—one of them featuring photos and videos of crying children being led away, flanked by armed security forces. The goal is "to help the innocent children that were living at the ranch," says one of the sites, and to appeal for donations. More »

Male members of the Texas polygamist sect say they weren’t aware that state law prohibits people under 18 from marrying until after the raid on their compound, CBS News reports. Three men from the Yearning for Zion ranch said on the Early Show that they'll cooperate with court-ordered DNA testing, and one argued that the sect members are misunderstood "because we're closed mouthed." More »

Texas officials begin taking DNA samples today from 416 children removed from a  polygamist sect and from adults who lived with them. The tests will be used to sort out the parentage of the children in the confusing mix of families with multiple mothers on the sprawling Eldorado ranch, reports the Houston Chronicle. More »

A judge ruled today that 416 kids seized at a polygamous ranch in Texas will be held for genetic testing, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. At the end of a 2-day custody hearing, Judge Barbara Walther said the tests were needed to sort out relationships between the sect's parents and children. Earlier, a psychiatrist testified that the kids “have the thinking patterns of a much younger child,” the Houston Chronicle reports. More »

Moms as young as 13 are among the 416 children removed from the Texas ranch of a polygamous sect, a child protection officer told a hearing yesterday. The state, making its case to keep the children away from the ranch, testified that a pregnant 14-year-old and a number of pregnant 15-year-olds are also among those in custody, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. More »

Even for those women who escape the forced marriages and controlling patriarchy of polygamous sects like the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, life isn’t easy. Many turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the mental burden, CNN reports. And some never leave because they’re programmed to think “it's not only physically dangerous … you're also risking your soul.” More »

Lawyers for the state of Texas told a chaotic, objection-filled hearing today they would press for psychiatric evaluations and genetic testing of all members of a polygamist sect, the New York Times reports. On the first day of a custody hearing to determine the fate of the sect's 416 children, the state said it also plans to relocate the youths to another part of Texas for the duration of the trial. More »

Texas family-services officials today defended their decision to separate the mothers and children removed from a polygamous Mormon sect last week as the only way to get at the truth about alleged child abuse, the Houston Chronicle reports. Fifty-seven of the 139 mothers were forced to leave the group of children staying at the San Angelo Coliseum, and most returned to the sect’s Eldorado ranch. More »