From Deseret News archives:
FLDS believe Texas is plotting another raid on ranch
"They assume they do exist. If they bring in heavy law enforcement and raid us again, there's nothing I can do to stop it," said FLDS member Willie Jessop as he stood at the gates of the ranch.
About 5 p.m. Mountain time, two Child Protective Services workers and two Schleicher County sheriff's deputies returned to the gates outside the ranch and spoke with Jessop. One law enforcment officer was seen wagging her finger emphatically at Jessop, who looked visibly upset.
The workers and officers left about 20 minutes later. What was discussed is unknown.
Earlier today, Jessop said he met with CPS workers and sheriff's deputies in Eldorado earlier this afternoon. He said CPS workers claimed to have received another phone call about children and abuse on the ranch.
CPS claimed to be looking for five children, ages 14, 15 and younger.
Jessop said he believes law enforcement and CPS will return to the ranch. He said CPS scrubbed immediate plans to raid the ranch because news media were outside.
Every child was already taken from the ranch last month, Jessop maintained. To prove his point, he opened up the ranch to the Deseret News and a group of other reporters gathered outside the gates and led a brief tour of the property.
Only a handful of people were seen inside the 1,700-acre ranch. A schoolhouse was empty, a dairy was sparsely tended to. The once-pristine green lawn of the FLDS Church's first-ever temple is turning brown.
Two CPS workers and a sheriff's deputy first arrived at the gates of the Yearning For Zion Ranch late this morning and indicated they'd heard there were more children on the ranch, confirmed Salt Lake attorney Rod Parker, who is acting as a spokesman for the church.
The workers were asked if they had a warrant. When they said they did not, Parker said they were denied access to the property and they then left.
"If they get a warrant, we'll look at what it says and what it's about," Parker said.
"They were just looking for more children is all," explained FLDS member Guy Jessop, who was standing inside the gate. "I told them there was none here."
Forty-five miles away, Parker and a handful of FLDS men — including Jessop — bolted from the courthouse in San Angelo and headed to Eldorado after receiving word that law enforcement was at the ranch's gate. The men were in court for a series of status hearings to determine whether the more than 450 children taken from the ranch will eventually be returned to their parents.
