From Deseret News archives:

YFZ raid is topic at conference on cults

Former members of polygamous groups expected to speak

Published: Friday, June 27, 2008 12:07 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
The raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch will be a hot topic at a conference under way in Philadelphia on cults.

Several seminars at the International Cultic Studies Association's conference are devoted exclusively to polygamy.

"The conference was planned before the events that occurred in April," said Mike Kropveld, director of Montreal-based InfoSecte, a cult-monitoring group. "It has become an issue of concern with people coming out of the different fundamentalist Mormon groups."

Former members of polygamous groups and government representatives will give presentations, with the raid on the YFZ Ranch in the front of everyone's minds.

"We're going to be talking about the approach Utah and Arizona have taken in trying to solve problems and to create a safe environment for people in polygamous communities," said Paul Murphy, the coordinator of the Utah Attorney General's Safety Net Committee, a group of polygamists, government workers and social-service agencies working together to deal with abuse and neglect in closed societies.

Murphy said the states' approach has been to reach out to people with care, fostering involvement.

"People need to know that you care about them whether they are in polygamy or not," he said.

Story continues below
Acting on a call from someone claiming to be a pregnant, abused 16-year-old girl, Texas child welfare authorities and law enforcement went to the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch in April. Once there, authorities saw other signs of abuse, prompting a judge to order the removal of hundreds of children.

Texas Child Protective Services alleged a pattern of abuse, with girls groomed to be child brides and boys growing up to be sexual perpetrators. Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court ordered the children to be returned after ruling that state officials acted improperly in removing the children and said there was no imminent threat.

A child-welfare investigation and a criminal investigation are both ongoing.

"It was interesting the way Texas handled the whole situation," said Andrea Moore-Emmett, an anti-polygamy activist and the author of the book "God's Brothel." She also is speaking at the conference.

"I was glad to see them doing something, in contrast to what we see with Utah and Arizona," she said.

Kropveld is hesitant to take a position on the raid, saying he wants to wait and see what develops. He noted that there have been numerous complaints leveled against the FLDS for abuse, but he worried about the long-term effects of Texas' actions causing the group to become more isolated.

Recent comments

PhDAAA

This is the best definition of the word cult I have seen.
...

What is A Cult | June 27, 2008 at 10:42 p.m.

I am so tired of hearing self-appointed experts deciding who is or is...

Stop throwing it around | June 27, 2008 at 7:36 p.m.

It is a disgrace to Utah that a government employee is attending a...

John Lambert | June 27, 2008 at 1:26 p.m.

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

Make Region 9 and St. George proud! Good luck to the Tigers of Hurricane too!

I do beieve JIMS time is up here in So.Utah..!! Out with the old and in with...

There might be a few more woman here in Utah. More so than the national...

This election cycle is starting to look like the perfect storm to clean...

Yeah, that's a good idea. Lets move the rivalry game to a stadium that less...

Doomsday sect's future in doubt

As the French say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."...

U. hopes to keep clicking

If the Utes pull out a win against TCU, it will only be because TCU made...

Sandy may give $10K to bowl game

Sandy residents must love their football more than the average football fan,...

We will all pay to some extent, but what you probably wanted to ask was how...

Fedor has been busy his wife recently had a baby and he posted here the other...

Advertisements
Advertisement