364 now dropped from FLDS custody case

SAN ANGELO, Texas — More children have been dropped from the ongoing custody case involving the Fundamentalist LDS Church.

On Wednesday, Texas Child Protective Services filed to nonsuit 29 children from court oversight. On Tuesday, the agency dropped 20 more. That brings the total number of people dropped from the case to 364.

The Deseret News' tally includes 26 so-called "disputed minors," FLDS women CPS initially believed were underage but later nonsuited when they were determined to be adults.

Hundreds of children were taken in the raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch when authorities responded to a call from someone claiming to be a pregnant teenager trapped in an abusive, polygamous marriage. The call is being investigated as a hoax, but authorities said they found other signs of abuse on the ranch.

That prompted a judge to order the removal of all of the children. They were returned two months later when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not at immediate risk for abuse. Nine people, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, have been indicted by an Eldorado grand jury on charges related to underage marriages within the Utah-based polygamous sect.

— Ben Winslow