State says FLDS 'indoctrination' puts all 416 children at risk

John Hollenhorst and AP reporting KSL 5 TV

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez     There are 416 children now at relocation centers 50 miles from their homes on the FLDS ranch raided by Texas Rangers and state police. Now the goals of the operation have become much clearer. A document released by the state of Texas tells the frightening story of a 16-year-old girl who is still unaccounted for. It also shows that Texas officials are willing to mount a broad legal attack that could be devastating to the FLDS culture. Utah and Arizona have tried to deal with polygamy by prosecuting individuals for specific sex crimes when there's enough evidence to go to court. Texas officials are being far more aggressive. They're trying to prove that the FLDS culture itself creates an unsafe environment for children. It took a huge force of investigators four days to search the ranch and find all the kids. Now they're at relocation shelters miles from home. All of them, perhaps, except the girl who triggered the raid. Marleigh Meisner, with Texas Child Protective Services, said, "I still cannot confirm if we have the original 16-year-old girl." A state affidavit released to news reporters spells out the girl's desperate story. The 16-year-old made calls from the ranch, saying she was being held against her will. Whispering into a borrowed cell phone, she said she'd been forced into spiritual marriage, sex and motherhood at age 15. She said she was beaten severely by her much older husband and forced to have sex. State officials say the court affidavit legally encompasses all the children, not just the girl whose story it tells. "Because we have now interviewed all of the children involved, and the information that they have given us tells us that we have more victims," Meisner said. Texas officials say the affidavit applies to all the children because "there is a pervasive pattern and practice of indoctrinating and grooming minor female children to accept spiritual marriages." Authorities say that puts the girls at risk of being sexually abused at age 14 or 15 and the boys at risk of becoming sexual perpetrators. So many children have been moved to the barracks at historic Fort Concho that authorities have been scrambling to find more housing. In addition to the hundreds of children taken there, 139 women went voluntarily to accompany the children. But 170 are being moved elsewhere. "As you know, it has been difficult to find placement in a temporary setting for these children. We really have reached our maximum capacity here at this location in San Angelo," Meisner said. Authorities have brought in experts to help. Outsiders who helped the kids in the last four days had trouble breaking through the cultural isolation. Helen Pfluger, who attends the Eldorado First Baptist Church, said, "They were afraid of us because they'd been taught that we are evil." Barbara Arendt, also from the Eldorado First Baptist Church, said, "We were not able to touch them physically, but we hugged those girls with our prayers." Obviously, the forced relocation has been psychologically tough on children who grew up with little or no exposure to the outside world. "We also have a couple of people on board that are helping us with the therapeutic needs of these children. They're very familiar with the issues that go into the people that live within this compound, and it's been very beneficial. They're helping us to make certain that these children are comfortable, and that we're approaching these children in a way that we're not going to be threatening to these children," Meisner said. It's too soon to say how the aggressive strategy in Texas will stand up in court. A judge will have to approve every permanent removal of a child from a family. Meanwhile, court officials released a document Tuesday morning that was filed last Saturday by leaders of the FLDS Church. Merrill Jessop and Isaac Jeffs claim the search of the Texas compound violates numerous constitutional rights. They asked the judge to stop the raid and quash the search warrant. When they filed the documents, the FLDS leaders were trying to head off a search of the FLDS temple. The temple search was carried out anyway on Saturday night. Jessop told the Salt Lake Tribune that there needs to be a public outcry that goes far and wide. He says, "What's coming we don't know. The hauling off of women and children matches anything in Russia or Germany." The judge has now scheduled a hearing on the matter Wednesday, four days after it was filed. Also Tuesday, authorities released information on two men they arrested on the compound. The Department of Public Safety says one man, Levi Barlow Jeffs, is accused of misdemeanor interfering with the duties of a public servant. The other man, Leroy Johnson Steed, was arrested last night on a felony charge for tampering with physical evidence. E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com

KSL.com Originally broadcast April 8, 2008

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