Reader comments
FLDS roundup is largest since Waco standoff; 401 children may be placed in foster homes

They have no guns or weapons, and they are cooperating well with authorities...this doesn't sound like criminals to me. The pictures that I have seen show some bright and healthy children, nothing indicating abuse in any way.

This is starting to look more and more like a travesty of justice.

Why are they taking every single child away?

They still haven't produced the complaining witness. This is just a misuse of power, pure and simple.

Watching mothers and children being led away by law enforcement reminds me of one thing: the gestapo in Nazi Germany.

Sad that only one reporter was really demanding answers from those two stooges at the press conference. He was the only one pointing out the travesty of justice that this situation is. 401 children were all abused?!!

The fathers are being confined without warrant or arrest, the children have been taken without merit. And most troubling was there was absolutely no transparency from the two at the press conference. We the people demand answers and all we got was, "I can't disclose that information at this time."

How is it that the fathers that are supposed to be these violent abusers of children showed virtually no resistance to their children being ripped from their arms? Isn't abuse about control? I applaud those fathers for keeping their cool, I know I certainly wouldn't.

Given the long history these communes have had for child abuse, I can see the concern about abuse in this case. But is it truly necessary to gather up over 200 women - many adults - in such a case? Where does this search warrant end? I don't support the FLDS, but I am concerned with government overreach in this case.

THEY HAVE NOT FOUND THE SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL? what if there was not even a phone call! what if this is just a reasen to see inside the Ranch? I just hope people stand up. people in the united states. this Question's all of our Religous Right's!

I am absolutely appalled at the lack of indignation and uproar from the public for Protective Services of Texas, acting on an obviously anonymous complaint, going in and detaining a whole town! How can one unsubstantiated complaint result in the detention of 401 children from various families? How can this be tolerated? Where is the American Civil Liberties Union and their attorneys, or are they truly as misnamed as we have all heard? How does that saying go? They came for the Fundamentalists, but I was not one, so I held my peace. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not Jewish, so I did nothing. And then they came for me. It also concerns me that one bus I saw hauling off the people of this community said First Baptist Church. After seeing the level of Bigotry they are capable of, and their contemptuous disdain for other religions, some even calling the Catholic Church a "Cult", it is difficult to believe this is not religious persecution. Our constitution is supposed to protect us from this kind of government procedures. However, if we all remain silent, there will be no protection for any of us!

I have recently finished Carolyn Jessop's memoir titled ESCAPE. I heartily recommend it to anyone who thinks that religious rights have been violated.
Human rights of women, their children and men who are judged "unworthy" by the FLDS hierarchy are the real issue here! I was shocked at the depth and extent of the brainwashing this cult has perpetrated against its members. This case is much more complex than is being represented in the news reports.

You know, for the most part, I dislike FLDS and others like them, and I wouldn't generally defend them, but I'm with the others that say this could really be very serious. When the dust settles, there had better be some REALLY good answers and reasoning behind all of what these officials are doing, or else I am going to be one of the folks who sees to it that heads roll and things are made right.

It reminds me of the mothers, children, and old men being led away to the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Where is the justice?

I haven't seen any reports that describe the abuse as violent.

Sexual abuse doesn't have to be violent in order to be abuse. The victims may show no outward signs of abuse or may even appear to be unresisting participants. That doesn't prove the victims haven't been abused.

There have been way too many eye-witness accounts from underaged victims of these arranged marriages for authorities to simply turn a blind eye when a complaint has been registered.

Given the very strict control of the youth within the FLDS community, any instance of a young pregnant girl must be investigated by authorities to determine whether the circumstances involve sexual abuse.

If the girl's parents are complicit in allowing an arranged marriage for their underage daughter to occur, who else does the girl have to turn to for help but the state?

The very fact that this DOES concern the FLDS and the Fundamentalist Mormons, means that ANY child's complaint must be taken seriously.

The Texans down here don't take kindly to child abuse....and this will expose the Mormon Fundamentalists for exactly what they are.

In answer to your first question, NO.
In answer to your second question. No abusers have been arrested, you're making things up.
In answer to your third question. YES

"I know I certainly wouldn't" True, you open mouth and blaze away, don't you?

I got my information by reading the local newspaper, several of them from different reporters. I discounted that which was non-repeatable and didn't try to read more into it than was there. You should do the same.

Texas DPS, the best there are.

If a search warrant is served on your house, you will not be allowed to leave while that is going on. The men will be allowed to leave once the search is complete. Split emotions, you also missed the point that the women have gone with these children voluntarily and are free to leave at any time. The only ones taken under the court order were the children.

Too bad our own attorney general doesn't have the guts to give the children here in Utah the same protection.

This whole thing was handled terribly. We all know how successful WACO was. I'm saddened they entered their temple also, I sure hope all this was warrented by something other than a would-be prank caller. Obviously there have been problems with abuse in the FLDS church and I'm not defending what has gone on that we know of, but where was the humanity in this? Wouldn't it have been better to address the isolated incident than tearing everybody out and then try to find the needle in the haystack while the pressure to not tell is huge when EVERYBODY is together?

I am fairly certain that if you rounded up 400 children from any middle class neighborhood in America you would find at least 18 who showed signs of abuse and neglect, in fact I would bet that the number would be much higher. This whole situation reeks of a govornmental abuse of power.

That being said, here is the thing that I cannot understand.

It is very apparent from the history and recent prosecution of polygamists that the law either doesn't care or can't do much if you are JUST practicing polygamy. If that is the case then why do these men INSIST on continuing to marry girls under the legal age of consent.

Personaly, I think the fact that polygamy is illegal is a joke, but if you can't wait until your future wife/wives are over 16 or even 18 to marry her then you have earned whatever "Persecution" you get.

See The Book of Mormon, Jacob 2:31-33 It seems ramarkably suited to this particular situation.

As I read all the comments so far, I am wondering who of any of you have been given all the facts of this case? I am not in any way condoning anything that has happened, but I do know that a case like this a DA would have to be very selective of what they do or say to avoid a lawsuit. It is not uncommon to have a press confrence like this and not be able to release all the details.

Lets just wait until we hear all the details until we start to complain. I for one still have faith in our law enforcement and try my best to give them the benifit of the doubt.

This is a huge abuse of judicial power by a district judge in TX. They are justifying the detention and separation of dozens of families with arguably probable cause relating to one/two of the possible inhabitants. The mere existence of these persons in the compund does not create evidence sufficient to support probable cause for detention. I hope there is an army of attorneys willing to stand in the honest defense of these people. I do not agree with their beliefs, but this screams of habeas corpus, religious discrimination, bad faith execution of a warrant, abuse of judicial authority, and possibly a litany of other possible constitutional violations. Absolutely horrendous abuse of the authorities constitutional discretion. I can hardly believe this is happening and am incensed at the ramifications of the actions taken. I think those people with some understanding of the FLDS's beliefs should rise to the defense of this group of families. I do not condone the abuse of children nor the violation of law, but this is beyond egregious.

Something doesn�t add up here... The original estimates were 300-400 people at the compound. They�ve now removed some 400 women and children. That doesn�t leave very many men, but even if the population estimate was incorrect and there�s still a couple hundred men there, how is it that a mere handful of men could build an entire city, complete with a utilities infrastructure, not to mention a temple as well, and still have any time left for low and filthy habits of sexual abuse against young girls?