Texas sheriff defends raid on YFZ Ranch in one-on-one interview with Deseret News

Doran: It has, it has, and the twists and turns are not over with yet. I feel good about it. The criminal investigation side is proceeding forward nicely. The Rangers are the lead on that. This deal with Child Protective Services...the thing is there were victims that were definitely found on the ranch and they were removed. The ones that are being returned, that was Child Protective Services' goal from the get-go is to find out who were the victims when they were removed.

This is no different from any other Child Protective Services investigation, it's just on a larger scale. It's an unusual situation, it's a huge situation they had to deal with. But that is separate from the law enforcement investigation.

Deseret News: Should CPS have done what it did, though? Is there enough evidence to justify removing 460-plus children?

Doran: Of course, I can't comment on what Child Protective Services should or should not do. I do know what CPS was up against when they were out there. They were the ones conducting the interviews. They were the ones making the determinations and giving those results over to the district judge which caused the mass removal of the children. We were there to provide security for Child Protective Services as far as law enforcement went.

Deseret News: There was such a huge response with sheriffs from numerous counties, an armored personnel carrier, snipers. Was there ever a contingency plan in place for the eventuality of going out on the ranch? You can't just call all those resources in overnight.

Doran: Yeah, you can. When the call came in, the plan was formulated immediately how to logistically go in there and do it in the most calm and low-profile manner that we could. What's being portrayed is an armored personnel carrier, snipers, SWAT teams. In all actuality, all those were called in in case we needed them. They were never used for the initial entry when we, myself, two Texas Rangers, a handful of officers went to the gate that night with Child Protective Services and served a search warrant.

We talked to the people at the gate. We told them what was going on. The extra officers that were there, were basically there in the perimeter.

Deseret News: Did you have a plan in place for if and when you had to go on the ranch in any kind of capacity for a warrant?

Doran: We've always discussed it, but we have never had a plan in place for just in case this happened. The state of Texas has always got a contingency plan in place. Then you get together and form a plan and get the resources you need. It's not like when they moved here we mapped out this big huge plan, just in case.