CPS officials claim Jessop invited them to the ranch later in the afternoon, but when they arrived about 6 p.m., they were denied entry again. Two CPS workers and a law enforcement officer stood at the gate and spoke with Jessop. The police officer was seen wagging her finger emphatically at Jessop, who appeared visibly upset.

About 20 minutes later, the workers left.

Texas child welfare authorities were huddling late Wednesday to decide what avenues to pursue. Because they are a civil agency, officials noted they may not need a warrant to conduct a civil investigation. Asked if they plan to return and force their way onto the property, CPS couldn't say.

"I don't know what's going to happen," said the agency's Marissa Gonzoles. "Every day is a new day."

Jessop said that if there is a good faith effort of a complaint, the FLDS would cooperate, but they already feel betrayed by what he said were lies by the state.

"If they have legitimate allegations, a legitimate concern and be specific about it so we can help them deal with it, we'd be glad to," he said. "But they won't do that."

Onto the ranch

Jessop believes law enforcement and CPS will return to the ranch. He said initial plans to raid the ranch were scrubbed because the news media was outside.

Jessop said everyone had already been taken. If there were any children on the ranch, they belonged to sect members from out of state who came here to help in the massive child custody case.

To prove his point, the FLDS opened up the YFZ Ranch to a Deseret News reporter and other journalists gathered outside and led a brief tour of the property.

Jessop walked into the schoolhouse, which would typically have been filled with children. It was eerily empty. Some of the children's work was still on the walls. The calendars were still on the month of April.

In one room that also serves as a meeting hall for church services, a large portrait of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs looked out over the empty chairs.

Jessop defended his religious leader, who is in jail on charges of rape as an accomplice, having been convicted in Utah of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

Recently, child advocates have confiscated copies of the Book of Mormon from children in foster care and demanded that they not be exposed to Jeffs' sermons. Jessop said they would remove the pictures if it meant bringing the children home, but they would not renounce their faith.

"It's what the state is trying to force us to do," he said. "It will never happen. You can't call yourself a Mormon and renounce Joseph Smith any more than you can call yourself FLDS and renounce the prophet, Uncle Warren."