Trial delayed for Swinton

A trial for a woman connected to the hoax call that sparked the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch has been delayed.

Rozita Swinton was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 6 on unrelated charges stemming from a hoax call in Colorado Springs, Colo. El Paso County district attorney's spokeswoman Lin Billings said in an e-mail Friday the trial was vacated after a "request for an extension of time to complete Ms. Swinton's mental health evaluation."

Swinton, 34, is accused of pretending to be a 13-year-old girl who was drugged, chained in a basement and being sexually abused. Colorado Springs police searched door-to-door, only to be told by a counselor that Swinton suffers from a multiple personality disorder.

The Deseret News first reported in October that Swinton was entering inpatient mental health treatment just as she was facing a probation violation stemming from a false reporting conviction in 2007. She struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Castle Rock, Colo., getting a deferred judgment that required her to undergo an evaluation, get treatment and take all medications as prescribed. Swinton's arrest in Colorado Springs earlier this year placed her probation in jeopardy.

Swinton is considered by Texas authorities a "person of interest" in the phone call that launched the April raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch near Eldorado. Someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah" called family crisis shelters and hotlines claiming she was pregnant and trapped in an abusive, polygamous marriage to an older man.

Sarah was never found. Hundreds of children were taken into state protective custody by authorities who said that when they went to the ranch to investigate, they found other signs of abuse. The 439 children were returned two months later when two Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly. Only 19 remain under court jurisdiction in the case.

A dozen men from the YFZ Ranch, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, have been indicted on charges connected to underage marriages. The Texas Attorney General's Office would only say Friday that its investigation into Swinton is "ongoing."