From Deseret News archives:

Last of the FLDS kids removed from the coliseum, FLDS spokesman lashes out

Published: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:32 p.m. MDT
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The raid began April 3 when authorities responded to a phone call of someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," who was pregnant and in an abusive polygamist marriage. Law enforcement and child welfare workers responded and said they discovered more signs of abuse. A judge ordered all 462 children removed from the ranch.

The Texas Attorney General's Office has also completed gathering DNA samples from the people at the YFZ Ranch. Only 80 men and women showed up at the Schleicher County Memorial Building in Eldorado to give a sample, authorities said. An additional 70 gave samples at the San Angelo Coliseum.

The DNA samples will be used to establish paternity and kinship, and the Texas Attorney General's Office said it did not know if everyone on the FLDS compound gave a sample, pursuant to a judge's order. If they did not, they could be found in contempt of court.

An FLDS spokesman has said he feared authorities were using the DNA samples to build a criminal case against members of the polygamous sect.

Clean up is beginning at the coliseum, which has served as a makeshift shelter for part of the time the children have been in state protective custody. Conditions have been described by FLDS members as cramped, with "cots and cribs wall-to-wall." Before the coliseum, the children were housed at Fort Concho. A relief agency that has coordinated the efforts has estimated the cost in the past at $30,000 per day.


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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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