| State looks to house girls removed from compound | |
| KXAN Austin News | |
AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- Dozens of children were removed by the state from a religious compound in West Texas Friday. Troopers with the Department of Public Safety served search and arrest warrants Friday at the site in Eldorado, which was built by polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is in prison, convicted of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Utah. A complaint led Child Protective Services to the compound, and the agency is looking for temporary homes for more than 50 girls younger than 17, some of whom are reportedly pregnant. The bus, carrying 52 girls from 6 months to 17 years old rolled out of the Eldorado compound Friday afternoon to an uncertain future. "We are dealing with many victims, and of course, the setting is different than we're accustomed to," said Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for CPS. The raid began Thursday evening after a call for help from inside the compound reported there had been physical abuse to a 16-year-old girl. "That is the information we have received -- needing help, needing our assistance," said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter. Meisner said more than half the girls have been interviewed, and a judge has granted custody of 18 of the children to the state. "Those are the ones that we believe have been abused, or they are in imminent risk of harm, imminent risk of being abused, and that it would not be safe for those children to remain in the compound for another day," Meisner said. Last year, KXAN Austin News visited Eldorado. The news crew was not allowed inside the retreat for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Yet the perspective of those who live nearby seems prophetic now. "When they're as reclusive as this group is and when they're as insulated from outside opinions and views, and different points of view, you worry," said Randy Mankin, editor of the Eldorado Success. The FLDS church practices plural marriage, or polygamy, and girls can marry when their bodies are able to bear children. Until this week's complaint was received, law enforcement officials have largely left the group alone since arriving in 2004. A source told KXAN Austin News an emergency e-mail went out to foster families across the state Friday afternoon, asking for volunteers to help house some of these girls. Officials said they are getting good cooperation from those inside the compound. No arrests have been made, but the investigation is just getting started. DPS investigators have been on the scene along with CPS since Thursday night, and they said they believe they're just halfway through with their interviews. | |
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KXAN.com Originally broadcast April 4, 2008 | |
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