| Judge orders child bride of Warren Jeffs into foster care | |||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News | |||
SAN ANGELO, Texas — A judge has ordered a 14-year-old girl believed to be married to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs to be placed into foster care. But her 11-year-old brother will remain with his mother. "The court is concerned that the mother is unable to provide assurances she'd be able to protect the child in the future," Judge Barbara Walther said of the girl, while making her ruling here on Tuesday. Barbara Jessop left the courthouse showing little emotion. Fundamentalist LDS Church member and spokesman Willie Jessop called the judge's actions "barbaric." "Who can tear families apart like that when there's clearly no evidence? They haven't had any evidence for years that there's been any marriages at all," he said as he left court. "Let alone anything to justify what she's done. It's barbaric." Barbara Jessop's attorney, Gonzalo Rios, told a Deseret News reporter afterward that they would appeal. While making her ruling, Walther was critical of Texas Child Protective Services, glaring at agency representatives while telling them to set up parenting classes, psychological evaluations and home assessments for the girl's mother within the next 30 days. Attorneys had complained that such services were never arranged. Such requirements were part of the agreement Texas reached with parents of the FLDS children when they were returned to their homes after being placed in state custody. "She was the only parent that wasn't allowed a safety plan," Rios complained. "Every other mother did." Texas CPS removed 440 children from their homes on the YFZ Ranch as part of an investigation into sexual and physical abuse there. Walther also said Tuesday there was "uncontroverted evidence of an underage marriage" between Jeffs and the girl, who was purportedly 12 at the time. Shocking photographs of Jeffs kissing the girl were entered into courtroom evidence. But the girl's attorney argued during the hearing that in the two months since the FLDS children were all returned to their parents, there has been no evidence that there has been any harm done to the girl. The hearing over the two children of Jessop and her husband, ranch leader Merril Jessop, ended Tuesday morning with Jessop's attorney calling no witnesses and urging the judge to create a "starting point" with conditions for Barbara Jessop to follow. "We are asking the court to give Ms. Jessop a starting point so she can begin doing what they want her to do," said Rios. CPS officials said Jessop could never be located for home visits and interviews with her or her children. Walther ordered CPS to have one contact person for Jessop. An independent group appointed by the court to oversee the case on behalf of the children urged the judge to put both of Jessop's children in foster care. "We are not convinced Ms. Jessop can and will protect the children," said Valerie Trevino with the Court Appointed Specialty Advocates. Jessop's refusal Monday to answer dozens of questions based on her constitutional right against self-incrimination did not help her. In civil court, invoking the Fifth Amendment can be used against the person. "It probably did (hurt her)," Rios told the Deseret News as he left court. Lawyers appointed by the court to represent the children also expressed concern but said the children wished to stay with their mother. "He's a happy kid, healthy kid," said Larry Hance, an attorney for Jessop's 11-year-old son. "His wishes are to be with his mother." CPS is seeking to place seven children in foster care, arguing that their mothers have failed to protect them by keeping them from men involved in underage marriages. Two agreements with two other families were reached Tuesday afternoon, while a third involving FLDS community physician Lloyd Hammon Barlow is still being discussed. In one of those agreements, the judge agreed to give Ellen Grace Young temporary custody of her 9- and 11-year-old daughters while allowing their father, Nephi Barlow, visitation. Barlow told the Deseret News he believes the children should stay with their mothers. Young left the courthouse without commenting. In the agreement, Young agreed to protect her daughters "from entering into a spiritual union/marriage until each of them respectively is of legal age." The other agreement involved a 13-year-old girl. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com | |||
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DeseretNews.com Originally published Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008 | |||
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