SAN ANGELO, Texas — The children of the Fundamentalist LDS Church peered out the tinted glass windows of the chartered buses, some jumping up excitedly in their seats and waving to the people outside.

But they were not going home to the "Yearning for Zion" Ranch.

On Tuesday, as many as 100 children were moved from the San Angelo Coliseum, which has served as a makeshift shelter for 437 children taken in the raid on the FLDS compound near here earlier this month. Child welfare workers were acting on an order from a judge, who gave the approval to begin placing them in foster care facilities scattered across Texas.

"They'll temporarily be there while we sort this out," said Darrell Azar, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Judge Barbara Walther's order dictates that teenage mothers will be placed with their babies, alongside other teenage girls who are pregnant. Children under 12 months old will be placed in foster homes with siblings who are under 5 years old. Boys 8 years and older will be at the Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Amarillo, where other FLDS boys have been sheltered.

"Every attempt will be made to place siblings together," the judge's order states, placing the children in shelters and care centers in Amarillo, Abilene, Waxahachie, Houston, Austin and elsewhere in the state.

Outrage

About a half-dozen buses left the coliseum Tuesday afternoon, escorted by police cars and ambulances. Some had children in them, some did not.

The coliseum was placed in lockdown, preventing anyone from coming in or going out of the grounds while the transport was taking place. Attorneys representing the children, who were there to meet with their clients, were unable to leave.

Moments after the lockdown was lifted, a Tom Green County sheriff's van drove out of the coliseum parking lot with two FLDS women inside. They appeared visibly upset.

"There were two women who had no biological children here," Azar said Tuesday. "They were transported to a location of their choice."

The women reportedly returned to the YFZ Ranch.

"Every step in this proceeding, the court has acted without regard to the rights or wishes of the people whose lives are affected here," said Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney who is acting as a spokesman for the polygamous sect.

At least two requests for a restraining order were filed in a San Angelo court, seeking to stop the removal of the children and the separation from their mothers. Those motions are in the judge's files, but she has not heard them.