Reader comments
Suspected 'Sarah' will be in court today

Isn't it great that President Bush's Patriot Act can wiretap every phone-line of every person in the United States of America, but all that spy information can't catch a clue with sly Swinton and the Sheriff!

It's time to man up and admit your mistake. You were deceived by this woman, and it sparked a massive raid and miscarriage of justice.

Be honest for once! The kids are already back with their parents, so you don't have to worry about the truth setting them free. It's time for Texas CPS to be open and honest about what happened. The people of the Lone Star state deserve to know why this expensive escapade took place and was carried out in their name. Full honesty is the only acceptable standard for Texas CPS, and an open, honest standard among the FLDS would also be monumental. As it stands, you can't trust either side.

But here is CPS' chance to at least start being honest.

As Sheriff Duran clearly explained, there is a teenaged FLDS member who fit the description of 'Sarah.' Furthermore, calls from among the FLDS members removed from YFZ Ranch identified what was going on in the temporary quarters after the raid. Whatever Ms. Swinton's problems, she is not the person most likely to be 'Sarah.' The reporter who wrote this story and the copy editor who wrote this headline are both irresponsible.

I can't believe making a false report is just a misdemeanor charge. Children removed from parents, millions spent by taxpayers- this should be a felony charge. If she is guilty, she deserves a heafty jail time for all the pain and suffering she has caused others.

Rozita is key to unraveling this case completely. Google CHARTEOUS JESSOP ESCAPE to retrieve a chart of the Amazon sales rank of Carolyn Jessop�s book, which was most likely used as a reference by the Texas swat teams before they went in. Sales shot up beginning about a week before Rozita called the women�s shelter the first time (beginning on March 21-23 vs Rozita�s calls on March 29-30), suggesting that she�d already called authorities, and giving them plenty of time to find out who she was if they didn�t know from day one. Remember Oswald saying he was a patsy? Well, Rozita was a patsy. Texas needed an excuse to go in, but they also need �good faith�, so they manufactured both.

You guys are being so HAD. "Kate Rosemary's Publisher" IS KATE ROSEMARY. Kate Rosemary is actually Mary Catharine Nelson, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF WESTVIEW PUBLISHING.

What I find most outrageous is that police are "still investigating" the phone call which my caller I.d. would have clarified ages ago.

Also of note is that a Sarah Barlow does exist on the ranch. She is 83. So, the refusal to allow for investigation based on the information at hand was correct. "Sarah Barlow 15 year old wife of Dale Barlow" did not exist and exactly what the FLDS men stated. What is curiouser still is that the Sheriff's office called Dale Barlow before the raid and knew exactly the situation, but went in regardless, supposedly looking for "abuse." Odd that now abuse seems not to be an issue, but finances in the form of a Trust is occurring. I really do not understand why so many sit by and do nothing. Children are wrongfully removed on a claim of abuse despite lack of evidence, then finances are grabbed from a Trust. It seems children and money are not safe from the government and that all needed is a set-up false accusation to grab both. Every American should be horrified at the power our government has over each and every individual contrary to Founding Father intentions.

To Interloper

It seems unlikely that there was a teenage FLDS member who fit the description of Sarah, if only because an important part of that description is that she was being abused by Dale Barlow, whom investigators knew before they arrived at the ranch had not been in Texas in years. But even setting that aside, if there were a girl who fit the description reasonably closely, that information would certainly have been given to the courts in Texas in the argument over whether the separation of the children was justified. Yet the appellate court's reference to the question of Sarah says that the authenticity of the call was questionable and, flat out, "Department investigators did not locate the caller on the ranch." That's with the benefit of the very best case the CPS could make after two months of trying. If anyone is irresponsible, it is you, with your repeated efforts to state as fact things that are either slanderous speculation or are outright false.

Dear C'mon Texas,

"It's time to man up and admit your mistake. You were deceived by this woman, and it sparked a massive raid and miscarriage of justice."

Are you kidding me? They weren't deceived by her. They used her as an excuse to go in, knowing all along that sex between adult men and underaged girls was going on.

I don't believe for a moment that the authorities had no idea where this call was coming from. It simply strains credulity too far. They have caller ID. They can know if less than an hour what tower a cell call came through.

I had a block on my caller ID. I called the satellite company and they said I see your calling from xxx-xxxx. I said, "I have a private line, how do you know that." They told me the FCC allowed them to see blocked numbers so that they could manage pay per view accounts and be sure nobody was stealing their services.

I think someone in authority in Texas decided this was pretext enough solve the FLDS problem in their state.

"I can't believe making a false report is just a misdemeanor charge. Children removed from parents, millions spent by taxpayers- this should be a felony charge. If she is guilty, she deserves a heafty jail time for all the pain and suffering she has caused others."

Blame rests squarely and exclusively on the shoulders of CPS, the judge that ordered the raid, and law enforcement that failed to make a good-faith effort to verify that the call was real before requesting the warrant. *They* should be held accountable.

What Ms. Swinton should get is a legal slap on the wrist and the psychiatric attention she so clearly needs.

Well, if one wants to deceive, she needs to find someone gullible enough to take the bait, and the CPS harpies swallowed hook. line and sinker.

There is an article in the San Angelo newspaper by Albert Hawkins, head of Texas HHS. Surprise, surprise, he defended CPS using the same b/s they've used before.

Nuts call the cops all the time. It's only when the police are looking for an excuse that the authorities "believe" them.

How can you think Rozita is the one who started the raid when it has been proven that the State of Texas had a plan from Late February to round these people up and send them to a Salvation Army facility? She is a scapegoat being blamed for something that was hatched by Texas Government Officials.

wow - the FLDS poser using my name is BACK!! gotta love it - it's a real complement. Thanks, 1st poster - I'm honored. Nice try (not really) but you fool no one.

The CPS and sheriff may have had an idea that the call was a hoax, but they couldn't rely on that. Were they supposed to believe Willie Jessop at the gate when he hands them a phone and says the guy's on the other end? Come on - please. That's just rediculous.

Besides, there were several girls with the same name, how do we know there weren't several guys with this Barlow name?

I still think the CPS missed people there. I guarentee you, one of the first things FLDS built at that compound is a really good hiding place that would hold quite a few people. I would venture to say that some girls were hidden there while the search went on, and then they were moved later. That's why the CPS went back later amid rumors that there were still children.

Must have been a really good hiding place. My guess would be somewhere under the temple. These people are sneaky if nothing else.

Jane - I don't think the FLDS called the cops, so I'm confused by your "nuts call the cops all the time" statement....

how did she get barlows name? hmmmmmmmmm

Rozita, I believe, was in fact a scapegoat for CPS, and, the Texas Officials who raided this ranch. Something is simply not right, she knew too much! They had to have a reason for the raid. From looking at Rozita, one could tell she never set foot on this ranch,however, she knew what was going on all this time! CPS has found a scapegoat to blame for the raid that took innocent mother's and their children hostage for months by our government. I think we all know how CPS works, the decieving and sneakiness, that we see all over the country. Of course, CPS, will claim they were just following orders. The sheriff, I believe, was very disloyal to the FLDS, he has planned, with Texas officials since late February, to show Texas Officials what he had found on this ranch. I hope the FLDS do vote him out of office. Now, they are blaming all of this on Rozita, who is mental. Even if she is at fault for calling them, which I do not see how?, she had way too much information....Prank phone calls are made every day, many times by children, are they arrested for it? NO!

The hearing was postponed...of course!

I think you should leave Carolyn Jessop, alone. I haven't had time to read her book yet, but, her story in People mag. was enough for me. I do believe her, she seems very, credible, honest. I can only admire her courage to do what she did. To blame her book for the raid on the ranch is wrong. This woman has suffered enough. Leave her ALONE. Anyone can write a book, she did nothing wrong. I could write a book, it does'nt mean you have to read it!