Affidavit: FLDS raid spurred by girl's reports of physical, sexual abuse

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Officials in Texas on Tuesday released documents detailing the reasons why police raided a polygamist ranch and took custody of 416 children.

In the affidavit by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, officials say a 16-year-old girl living at the YFZ Ranch called a local shelter March 29 to report that she was being abused by an adult male to whom she had been "spiritually married."

The document states that the girl, who said she was several weeks pregnant and had an 8-month-old infant, requested assistance leaving the ranch, which is owned by the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The affidavit states that the girl called several times that day, expressing the "need to leave her current living situation."

Also on Tuesday, Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for Texas' division of child protective services, said "all the children have been safely removed from the ranch."

However, Meisner said she "still cannot confirm that we have the 16-year-old girl."

According to the affidavit, the girl told officials during the phone call that she was taken to the ranch by her parents three years ago. Then, last year, when she was 15, she was "spiritually married to an adult male member of the church." He was 49, and she became his seventh wife.

"The teenage mother stated that she began to be abused shortly after she started living at the ranch. She advised that the adult male would beat and hurt her whenever he got angry," according to the document.

This included hitting her in the chest and choking her, the affidavit states.

When the abuse occurred, the girl told officials, other women at the ranch would hold her infant child. The last time he beat her was on Easter Sunday, according to the affidavit. The document also indicated that on a previous occasion the man had beaten her so severely that it resulted in her having several broken ribs.

After that incident, she was taken to a hospital, and a doctor wrapped her torso with a bandage and told her, "Take it easy for a few days," according to the document.

The girl also said the man would force himself on her sexually, the affidavit states.

She told officials she was not allowed to leave the ranch except for medical care. In such cases, a man would drive and another woman would accompany her.

She tried to come up with a plan to escape by pretending to be sick, the document says. She then realized that wouldn't work, according to the affidavit, because she wouldn't be able to take the baby with her unless the infant was ill.