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Calls from 'Sarah' kept on coming

This just proves that the world is full of wackos. Someone ought to lock her up and throw away the key.

The only surprise here is that the Texas authorities didn't figure this out before the raids began. Or did they, but it just gave them the excuse that they had been waiting for to show their distaste for others that are "different" than they are. This sounds like Independence or Nauvoo all over again.

Now I do not agree with the FLDS way of life or beliefs, but I find it very disturbing indeed that a State authority can charge into a community on a false pretense, such as these calls from Sarah, and take away children with armoured cars and machine guns. And then justify it by saying that evidence was found after the raid.

Does it mean that anyone who dresses differently, or has different beliefs can be treated the same way. What about the abuse of these children caused by their being stolen away from the families they have known.

Who is next - another Waco?

I worry now the egg on the CPS' face will cause them to persecute to try and justify their actions instead of prosecute to enforce the law and truly protect the children.
If they were so sure the children were in danger from pedophiles (and I do belive they were)why did they wait so long to take action? And why wait for such a flimsy excuse as a phone call? Nightline and John Stossel, or many police departments use sting operations to catch pedophiles and they catch so many it's like shooting fish in a bucket. Surely they could have done something more legal and effective.
I hope Rozita Swinton gets both the help and punishment she deserves.

Well, I hate to say told you so, but.... From the beginning I focused on the legally insufficient basis for the original search warrant of the ranch, i.e. one anonymous phone call, with no apparent effort made by TX authorities to corroborrate the complainant's allegations. We knew within hours that Mr. Barlow was never in TX since 1977, and now authorities are admitting they had the cell phone number the anonymous call came from but did not request a subpoena to obtain the caller's identity and location (which can be done in minutes with an Exigent Circumstance subpoena, a service provided by ALL cell and land line phone companies. Had TX researched the phone number, they would have identified Swinton and known she did not call from the ranch. Where's the probable cause for the search then? Considering TX did NOTHING to verify the anonymous call or the location of the caller and the accused, it is legally problematic to now claim the search warrant was obtained in good faith and that CPS did what it did also in good faith. The ease with which TX authorities obtained and executed a search warrant should concern people of all faiths.

How is it possible that a premier anti-poligamy crusader like Flora Jessop could talk for 40 hours with this gentile woman and not detect the hoax. Are the FLDS apostates and self-promoting activists so blinded by their seething hatred that they can't see straight?

"We are still examining evidence that was seized from her residence and do not expect that investigation to be completed for a while..."

Why the reticence? Is this on orders from the governor?

How is it possible that this sick woman who had already charges for hoax calls was not monitored? And most important, why no official apologize was made to Dale Barlow and all of the FLDS Community?

We have got to end the practice that allows raids on people based on false calls. This story makes me sick. For anyone ready to jump on the bandwagon, please tell me who is next? If your neighbor doesn't like you and calls the CPS to come to your house and they find dirty dishes in the sink, arrest you for neglect, you probably would feel the same way. Where is their evidence? Who was abused, when, and by whom?

This woman is obviously greatly troubled. I hope she can get the help she needs. At least something good came from her fake calls-the busting up of the FLDS compound.

Multiple personality is the new excuse for evading responsibility for self. Even in the case of "Sybil," it was found the therapist gave/fed Sybil her memories and why "recovered memories" rings false even by psychological standards.

How ironic that the whole FLDS culture of brainwashing and child abuse could be unravelling because of a hoax call made by an obviously mentally disturbed young lady not even remotely connected to the FLDS.

Yet people continue to support the actions of the Texas authorities?

They outright lied to us. They said, "well we can't find 'Sarah' but she is probably here, they make it difficult to know whom they actually are." When the sheriff said that he knew he was lying, he knew that there was no Sarah. When they went in on this raid , they knew they were acting on unfactual information. They knew that she never existed, it was all a rouse to trick you fools into supporting this action.

There has been no evidence, that is how America works. The only evidence comes from the testimony of disgruntled former FLDS members. Perhaps if the only knowledge you had of mainstream mormons was from your preacher and hate groups that attack the church, then you would think that we are some sort of cult, some sort of evil church whose members need rescue. Members who are brain washed, etc. Give me a break, open you eyes!

Stop excusing the actions of the Texas authorities upon emotionally charged hearsay. Indeed if you call yourself anything which resembles American, you cannot support this illegal raid.

You don't hear much about the spy on the inside for the past four years. What happened to that story? They'd better come up with something to corroborate Sarah's false alarm.

I agree with all of you. Let's not investigate calls that CPS gets about an abused child, until that child is found dead in an alley somewhere. And let's not remove children from homes where evidence is found of young teenagers having babies, because the initial call was a hoax. Let's turn our eyes away from evidence of abuse because a mentally disturbed woman made a bunch of bogus calls. I agree, children don't need protection. The FLDS community needs to be allowed to continue marrying off their teenagers and committing other crimes for the sake of their right to practice their religion. I fully agree with ya all. Let's storm the State and free all of the children, to return to the compound and continue being used as breeders.
(And YES, I'm being TOTALLY sarcastic!!!!)

Do any of you bother to read the whole articles, or do you just read the headlines and start spewing your already preconceived personal biases?

""That it was triggered by a call that appears to be a hoax does not affect the cases concerning the safety of the children," said Susan Hays, a Dallas attorney. "It might affect the criminal cases, but not the civil cases concerning the custody and safety of the children.""

It's scary how many people are so clueless about the actual laws of this country. It's even more scary that so many clueless people are called to serve as jurors.

CIVIL and CRIMINAL Courts operate under two entirely different sets of rules.

Removing abused children from a home is a CIVIL action.

Sending someone to prison for child abuse is a CRIMINAL action.

Rozita Swinton if found guilty, needs to be put away for a good long time. Doubt that a staged, quivering chin (Jimmy Swaggart)would show up at her hearing.

These kids belong with their parents. Those that are abused will say so and have every right to be placed with a relative first not FLDS then a foster home. They should be the first to in a hearing to determine their living arangements.

If a hoax call can instigate taking a whole groups children away (guilty until proven innocent), all their records seized, their temple doors broken down and desecrated, whose to stop this happening from any other religious society? Odds are the was some abuse going on there in the TX compound, but certainly not every man and woman was guilt of the abuse. Let's take all their kids anyway. Never mind that the call we used as justification was a hoax. We'll have evidence ex post facto.
Imagine this: A call to Utah state Authorities saying "Help I was molested in the Salt Lake Temple of the LDS church and I'm only 12!" Using the same justification the TX authorities are, they could break down the doors of every LDS temple in the country, take all LDS kids away from their families and put them in terrible foster homes, refuse communications between families, seize all church records, and otherwise persecute all LDS members of the church like the people in TX. They're using the bigamy issue to get social justification for all of their other unconstitutional, inhumane acts. And society thinks its OK becuase they practice polygamy.

If you're weaving down the street and a police office pulls you over for suspected DUI and then notice a bag of pot sitting on your seat, you can still be arrested for possession of drugs, even if your breathalizer test proves that you weren't drunk.

Police only need probable cause to investigate a crime.

For all those saying the police have no authority to investigate based on an anonymous call, you better hope that your home is never broken into, or you're never in an accident, or never have anything happen to you, where you have to call 9-1-1 to request assistance through an anonymous call.

Grow a brain or start using the one you have.

You people fail to realize they had probable cause to go in - hoax or not. They have been working on this for years. The hoax will probably affect the criminal aspect of it.

I've done enough research on FLDS. Wish some of you would as well.

I hope the women and children get out of this crazy way of life. I could care less of what they believe. However, they still worship Warren Jeff's and his twisted views. I wish they could see that his ways are WRONG.