Judge in FLDS case peppers CPS with questions

Also, authorities have finished collecting DNA samples from more than 400 children from the FLDS Church being housed in a makeshift shelter.

Charter buses were arriving at the San Angelo Coliseum late Wednesday morning to take more of the children to 16 locations across Texas, where they will be placed in foster-care facilities.

But that transport was not going to happen until after the court hearing this afternoon.

Acting on a call to a family crisis shelter from a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," authorities raided the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch near Eldorado earlier this month. Even though police and child welfare workers have been unable to identify the girl, authorities say they documented child abuse that merited the removal of all 437 kids, including teenage mothers and pregnant teens.

Walther signed the order that put the children in state protective custody. They have been housed at the coliseum and fairgrounds with 95 women from the YFZ Ranch, who are staying with the children.

On Tuesday, DNA samples for about 100 children were completed. Those children were loaded onto buses and left for shelters scattered across Texas. The judge's order attempts to keep siblings together and teenage mothers with their children.

DNA samples are being required to establish paternity. CPS workers have said they are not getting true names, birthdates, or relationships from many of the children or adults in this massive child custody case.

The children's parents are again returning to the Schleicher County Memorial Building today to undergo a cheek swab, be photographed and assigned a number. Not many showed up on Tuesday. Texas attorney general's spokeswoman Janece Rolfe said those who do not show could face fines or jail time.

"The court order is clear that being found in contempt of court could be a consequence," she said.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com