From Deseret News archives:
4 more kids dropped from FLDS case
On Tuesday, Texas Child Protective Services filed to "nonsuit" four more children taken into state custody in the raid on the YFZ Ranch. That brings the total number dropped to 291, agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins told the Deseret News.
Approximately 439 children were taken from the YFZ Ranch and then subsequently returned to their parents when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly in removing all of the children, saying there was no imminent danger of abuse. Only one child, a 14-year-old girl, has been returned to foster care after a judge ruled her mother could not protect her from abuse. Child welfare authorities allege the girl was married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.
The decision to nonsuit ends court oversight and requirements that families must remain in Texas, attend parenting classes or make themselves available to CPS investigators. However, CPS could still retain some involvement as child welfare investigations continue.
Meanwhile in Utah, lawyers for a group of ex-FLDS members said they do not object to FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop serving on an advisory board for the court-controlled UEP Trust — provided he is thoroughly vetted before being appointed.
The UEP Trust, which is the real-estate holdings arm of the FLDS Church, has an opening on its advisory board for an FLDS representative. In a recent letter to the judge overseeing the trust, Jessop accepted an invitation and recommended another member join him.
"The person fulfilling this position is to provide non-binding input regarding the just wants and needs of Trust Participants in light of the religious principles of the FLDS Church," attorney Greg Hoole wrote in papers filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court last week. "No person can be considered for this position until they are first designated in writing by the FLDS Church to fulfill this position."
Board members have undergone depositions in the past. Hoole — whose clients include Elissa Wall, the star witness in Utah's criminal case against Jeffs — has sought to depose FLDS members. He also has filed several lawsuits against the FLDS Church and the UEP on their behalf.
The UEP was taken over in 2005 amid allegations that Jeffs and other FLDS leaders mismanaged it. A judge appointed an accountant, Bruce Wisan, to oversee it. The trust is undergoing court-ordered reforms, doing away with the concept of a "united order" in favor of private property ownership.
