FLDS Case had as Many Complications as Wives

Staff Writer April 13, 2009

The nation’s largest child custody involves 439 children from the state of Texas that were removed from Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas one year ago. More than $12 million of taxpayer money was spent on the long and drawn out investigation that began over a year ago. The money was spent on foster care, genetic testing, security, hotels, transportation and overtime pay for hundreds of state workers that were involved with the investigation. 12 girls out of the 439 children that were removed from the ranch were sexually abused because they married adult members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Charges are still pending against 11 of the men because of their role in arranging illegal marriages. There are two factors that have hindered the investigation by Texas authorities of the ranch that housed over 800 people on 1,700 acres. Those two factors include the decision by local law enforcement to remove all of the children from the ranch and the church members’ own circuitous DNA muddled by years of intermarriage to one another among a handful of families.

A majority of the families have returned to the ranch, housed in Eldorado, and have begun to live their lives once again. The state of Texas is preparing to face a civil lawsuit from the members of the ranch, who have over $100 million in church assets that the group has used to hire attorneys and prepare to file lawsuits against the state of Texas with. The Supreme Court of the state of Texas, in a five page report, said that the removal of the children from the ranch was unnecessary. The law enforcement officials that led the case in April of 2008 had never seen a case like this one before and more than likely will never see a case such as this one again. Many people in the state of Texas feel that because this type of case had never been seen before that the law enforcement officials acted in the best interest of the children, whom were thought to be in danger because the children didn’t know which family they belonged to.