The case was transferred to Judge Elizabeth Lindsley after Valdez's son got into a scuffle outside the courthouse with pro-Kingston protesters. In another hearing, one of Kingston's daughters testified about a plot to kill Valdez and state lawyers, blow up the courthouse and kidnap the children. The Kingstons denied the allegations.

Kingston himself had already pleaded no contest to child abuse and served jail time for the 1999 beating of a daughter he had with another woman. The girl had run away from an arranged marriage to Kingston's brother, David Ortell Kingston, who served prison time for incest. That daughter has also filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the group.

Both Valdez and Lindsley eventually ordered reunification of the parents and their children after classes and therapy. DCFS lawyers and guardians ad litem — attorneys appointed by the courts to represent the children — disagreed. The Utah Supreme Court ultimately sided with the judges in 2007, ending the custody case.

Carolyn Nichols, an assistant Utah attorney general in the child protection division, said the state did help Foster, even if she doesn't recognize it.

"Heidi didn't change, and she doesn't believe the state did anything to help her," Nichols said. "But her house and her living arrangements for her children are better now than when she started. At least she started making it a safe place for the kids."

The system

There are "500 million things" Foster wishes she had done differently in her custody case. She has many disagreements with how her caseworker handled things and how the courts handled things.

"If we would have understood the system at the beginning, there was a lot we would have done differently and I think it would have made a huge difference," she said.

Nichols said the state has an interest in protecting children from abuse. In this case, she said the state was always portrayed as the "bad guy."

"If the parents will recognize that the state has an interest in returning the child to the parents, in maintaining the family unit — they'll do much better than if they fight it," Nichols said. "We're not trying to destroy the families, but to stop the behavior that we find offensive."

But even now, Foster said she still disagrees with how child welfare authorities operate.

"Somehow, they have the ability to violate rights to a certain extent. I don't know why that's allowed or tolerated. I don't think it should be, but it is," she said.

Aftermath

Foster is no longer under the scrutiny of DCFS, and has become an activist with the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices. She spoke out at a polygamy summit held last month in St. George.