Mothers shout 'Help!' as they're bused off

Whether the call is a hoax may be irrelevant. Child protective services workers said when they responded to the original complaint, they found evidence that other children had been abused.

"What we found was a widespread pattern of young girls being married off to older men," Azar said.

It was the judge's order to remove all the children from the YFZ Ranch and place them in state protective custody.

The next stage of the process will be to begin creating plans for the children and review the cases individually in court. Some parents could ultimately be reunited with their children.

Appeals

The first battles in the legal war over the FLDS children are beginning.

In papers filed in 51st District Court, Judge Barbara Walther's court, lawyers for the FLDS Church challenge the grounds for the search of the YFZ Ranch and its temple.

"The State's actions in invading and searching a place of religious significance raises important and sensitive issues which lay (sic) at the intersection of religious liberty and the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures," Gerald Goldstein, an attorney for the FLDS Church and leaders Merril Jessop and Lyle Jeffs, wrote in court papers filed Thursday.

Goldstein alleged that Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran called Dale Barlow before the first search warrant was served and learned the man was in Arizona. He also said that "Sarah" had called Arizona Child Protective Services on April 4, claiming to be locked in a basement in Colorado City, Ariz., "and that her father ... was sexually abusing and forcing her to marry a 40-year-old man by the name of Windel Nelson, there in Arizona."

The motion to challenge the warrant accuses police of illegally taking DNA samples from FLDS members during the raid.

"The documents and records seized also represent confidential communications between members of the Church and their spiritual advisers, and, as such, fall within the protections of the clergy-penitent privilege," Goldstein wrote.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin has agreed to hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider a pair of motions filed by lawyers representing 45 FLDS mothers. They are challenging the decisions to separate the women from their children.

"Our argument is there is no reason for the children to be sent to places like Amarillo and Abilene and Houston, to be dispersed from their families when the court has yet to decide whether or not it's right for them to have been taken away from their families," said Cynthia Martinez of the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Society.

The massive hearing that put all of the children in state custody was problematic because the families were lumped together without the chance to plead their individual cases, the society said.

This case is considered the nation's largest ever child custody battle, and even attorneys concede they are breaking new ground.

"No one has ever seen anything like this before," Fleming said. "Not the judge. Not this county or any county. There's never been a CPS case like this where 435 kids have been removed that appear to be healthy and well taken care of."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com