2 young FLDS boys unaccounted for
Child welfare workers in Texas say they're not worried. But the mother of the boys and attorneys representing the mothers are not sure whether they should be or not.
"We just don't know where they are," Cynthia Martinez told the Deseret News Saturday.
Martinez, the communications director for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which represents 48 FLDS mothers, said they had information on where the boys were supposed to be taken but can't confirm anything to emotional parents. It's indicative, she said, of the fear and confusion the parents of the 467 children taken from the YFZ Ranch continue to feel.
Meanwhile, an FLDS member sent a letter to the governor of Texas on Saturday, accusing child welfare officials of "some of the most horrific violations of human rights that have ever been allowed on American soil."
The letter was sent to Texas Gov. Rick Perry from Willie Jessop, an FLDS member who has helped church members publicize their cause. The letter asks the governor to respond and "stop this injustice and abuse" of the innocent FLDS children by separating them from their mothers.
"Many have been left in critical medical conditions, resulting in permanent mental damage through threats, intimidation and ultimately separating them from their parents, disregarding their own psychological expert advice to keep children with at least their mother."
Jessop accused Texas officials of "false allegations about the finding of abuse against teenage girls" and accused some Child Protective Services employees of "inhumane tactics and threats towards innocent mothers and children."
While not responding directly to the letter, DFPS spokesman Chris Van Deusen and others have repeatedly and strongly denied allegations made by several FLDS mothers that CPS workers threatened to never allow them to see their children again if they didn't cooperate or if the women returned to their homes at the YFZ Ranch.
"Those (allegations) are absolutely false. No one from CPS would say that," Van Deusen said.
Like Jessop, Martinez said accounting for all the children is a concern for her, too.
She said the mother of the two unaccounted-for boys contacted her attorney to say she needed to know about her 11-year-old and 16-month-old sons. The attorney was unable to get any information to help calm her client. Martinez is not saying the boy took his brother and ran away but said she can't rule out any possibilities because of the confusion that exists.
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