During the same conversation to the shelter, the 16-year-old girl said she was being held against her will and said "church members had told her that if she tried to leave, she will be found and locked up." She also said she had been told that outsiders would "hurt her, force her to cut her hair, to wear makeup and clothes and to have sex with lots of men," the court affidavit states.

The girl also said her parents were preparing to send her 15-year-old sister to live at the ranch.

"At the conclusion of this conversation she began crying and then stated that she is happy and fine and does not want to get into trouble and that everything she had previously said should be forgotten," the affidavit states.

Based on the information gleaned from the phone calls, Texas officials successfully petitioned a judge for a warrant to search the ranch, investigate the allegations and interview the children there.

During the search of the ranch, investigators observed a number of young girls who appeared to be pregnant, as well as several teen girls who had already given birth. Investigators said there was a "widespread pattern and practice" at the ranch in which young females are "conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men at the ranch upon being spiritually married to them."

The document states that once a girl reaches child-bearing age, approximately 13 or 14, she is "spiritually married" to an adult member of the church and is expected to engage in sexual activity in order to have children.

Based on the circumstances at the ranch, according to the affidavit, the state family services department determined that "immediate danger exists to the physical health or safety of the children" and/or the children are victims of neglect and sexual abuse.

"Similarly minor boys residing on the YFZ Ranch, after they become adults, are spiritually married to minor female children and engage in sexual relationships with them, resulting in them becoming sexual perpetrators," wrote DFPS investigator Lynn McFadden.

During interviews with child protective services, "a number of children" were unable or unwilling to name their parents or identified "multiple mothers." Some also would not provide information like birth dates, the document says. "This has made it difficult to determine who are the parents of the children located on the YFZ Ranch."

Although they know her name, child welfare workers still don't know if the teenager who called is among the 416 children.

"I still can't confirm we have the 16-year-old girl," Meisner said.

In addition to the 416 children, 139 adult women from the ranch are being housed at the shelters. They are free to leave if they want but are apparently there to be with their children.