State's top child welfare official: FLDS children have broken bones

AUSTIN, Texas — The state's top child welfare official said investigators found "historic physical injuries and fractures" among the children taken from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch.

The information came Wednesday during a hearing here before the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

"Some of the fractures have been found in very young children," said Commissioner Carey Cockerell of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

He said 41 children have broken bones or previous fractures. He did not elaborate on what investigators believe may have caused the injuries and refused to speak with reporters after his testimony.

Rod Parker, an attorney for the FLDS Church, lashed out at Cockerell and Texas officials Wednesday.

"It's part of their PR campaign to attack the parents with highly inflammatory implications," he told the Deseret News.

"They're not even alleging anything specific, just hoping the public will draw the obvious conclusion," he said. "It's really inappropriate for public officials to behave in this manner."

DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins called Parker's assertions "ridiculous" and emphasized Cockerell was simply reporting to state senators who requested an update on the case.

"We're still in the investigative stage, and we haven't determined whether the injuries were due to abuse or neglect or were just childhood accidents," he said.

Parker said he spoke Wednesday with the doctor who operated a clinic at the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch. "The breaks he's seen haven't occurred in a setting where he would suspect child abuse at all," the attorney said.

"They can treat some simple fractures (at the ranch clinic), but usually it's in consultation with an orthopedic doctor in San Angelo," Parker said, adding that doctors are required to report any suspicions of child abuse.

"There's not a single episode of child abuse (of FLDS) reported in Texas, or Utah or Arizona, either."

"Isn't it ironic that (Child Protective Services) is talking about broken bones when a little 7-year-old girl in the care of CPS broke an arm while she was at the Wells Fargo Pavilion?" FLDS member Willie Jessop said Wednesday.

"When we inquired about the incident, they came after us with this sensational story. They are distorting the facts and trying to justify their barbaric actions."

The commissioner also reported that, based on journal entries and interviews, DFPS is investigating possible sexual abuse of some young boys at the ranch.

Parker called the comment "irresponsible" and "unethical," saying there was no evidence to support the claim.