"The very first interviews at the ranch revealed that several underage girls had been 'spiritually united' with adult men," the report said. "Investigators also noticed a pattern of deception. Women and children frequently said they could not answer questions about the ages of girls or family relationships. Children were moved from location to location in an apparent attempt to prevent investigators from talking to them. Documents were being shredded. Girls told investigators that no age was too young for marriage and that 'the Prophet' determined when and who a girl should marry."

CPS and law enforcement have claimed that on-site they found evidence of abuse, prompting a judge to order the removal of all of the children from the ranch. Hundreds of children were placed in state protective custody.

The custody case that ensued is the largest in U.S. history.

The 439 children were ultimately returned to their families two months later when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and not all of the children were at immediate risk of abuse.

"The claims they are making in this report, bottom line: They just didn't have the authority to do what they did," said Cynthia Martinez of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which took the case to court.

Martinez noted that all of the mothers they represented had their cases dropped and called the report another effort to justify the removal of the children.

"Of the 146 families investigated, 62 percent had a confirmed finding of abuse or neglect involving one or more children in the family," the report said.

Breaking down the dispositions of the cases, CPS found:

• With 91 families, CPS determined it was "reasonable to believe that one or both parents in the family sexually abused or neglected a child in the family by entering into an illegal underage marriage with a child, failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the illegal underage marriage of a child, or failing to remove one or more children in the family from a situation in which they would be exposed" to an underage marriage.

• Twelve families were found to have committed no abuse against a child in their family.

• With 39 families, CPS was unable to determine that any abuse or neglect occurred.

• In three families, CPS determined it did not need to investigate.

• With one family, CPS could not complete its investigation.

Only 15 children and five mothers remained under court jurisdiction in the ongoing custody case, the CPS report said Tuesday. One child, a 14-year-old girl believed to have been married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, is back in foster care after a judge ruled her mother could not protect her from abuse and neglect.

Families signed service plans pledging to protect their children from sex abuse, with 170 parents agreeing to participate in parenting classes. Classes were given to 63 girls ages 10 to 17 on sex abuse and state laws on underage marriage.

Meanwhile, criminal investigations linked to the raid are ongoing.