Reader comments
Suspected 'Sarah' will be in court today

realitycheck | 3:48 a.m. June 6, 2008

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!

C'mon Texas | 3:48 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

Interloper | 4:19 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

Comments continue below

mensem | 4:57 a.m. June 6, 2008

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 a patsy | 5:34 a.m. June 6, 2008

Rozita is key to unraveling this case completely. Google CHARTEOUS JESSOP ESCAPE to retrieve a chart of the Amazon sales rank of Carolyn Jessopï¿½s 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 womenï¿½s shelter the first time (beginning on March 21-23 vs Rozitaï¿½s calls on March 29-30), suggesting that sheï¿½d already called authorities, and giving them plenty of time to find out who she was if they didnï¿½t 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 ï¿½good faithï¿½, so they manufactured both.

Hugh McBryde | 7:32 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

David, still agnostic | 7:52 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

DC | 7:58 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

JND | 8:08 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

DCnTN | 8:09 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

G | 8:21 a.m. June 6, 2008

"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.

BoPeep | 8:24 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

Jane | 9:40 a.m. June 6, 2008

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

freethinker | 9:50 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

realitycheck | 10:20 a.m. June 6, 2008

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.

realitycheck | 10:20 a.m. June 6, 2008

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

jt | 10:22 a.m. June 6, 2008

how did she get barlows name? hmmmmmmmmm

Emma | 11:58 a.m. June 6, 2008

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!

David | 12:06 p.m. June 6, 2008

The hearing was postponed...of course!

Renee | 12:19 p.m. June 6, 2008

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!

David | 12:31 p.m. June 6, 2008

If Carolyn Jessop is so "credible" why did CPS not request her presence as a witness? You could indeed write a book, but it doesn't have to be truthful but based on fiction but sold as non-fiction like "A Million Little Pieces." Again ask yourself, why Carolyn and Flora Jessop were not called as expert witnesses if so "reliable" and "good witnesses?"

Ray | 12:50 p.m. June 6, 2008

And now Texas Gov. Perry says he is sorry if the raid crossed over some legal line. IF? The top Texas court has said so pretty darn clearly, if he won't take their word for it who is he going to listen to? Or is his head stuck so far up his own tushy that he hasn't heard the news? The kids are home, buddy!

zxcvbnm | 2:06 p.m. June 6, 2008

Re Ray
Perry has never been the sharpest nail in the box. His knowledge of the supreme courts decision is limited to what his aids read to him. He doesn't want anyone to know that he knows what he knows..........ya know.
Seriously he will not use e-mail so that there is no paper trail to him......he learned "plausable deniability" from Nixon.

Dena | 2:10 p.m. June 6, 2008

I feel sorry for Rozita if she really didn't make the call. How would you like to be blamed by thousands with no one defending you for something you really didn't do?

realitycheck | 2:20 p.m. June 6, 2008

the kids are NOT home, Ray. They are out in the real world. Very few mothers and children have returned to the "ranch". I, for one, am glad. No escaping from there. If Carolyn Jessop had been in there insteead of SLC or Hilldale, she would never have escaped. There's no sneaking out in the middle of the night there. Where you gonna go? Walk 30 miles to town?

And if just one child is saved from that "ranch" (or minimum security prison as I would call it)because of what Texas did, then it was worth it. I think that's the governor's feelings (and most of the USA) too.

In case you haven't noticed, this paper is the only one with a 50/50 mix of pro and con (if not a higher ratio that's pro-FLDS). Every other paper in the country is filled with 95+% comments against the kids going back. (Guess this is the paper the FLDS read.) Everyone else understands the meaning of free will as it applies to the future of children.

Interloper | 4:05 p.m. June 6, 2008

The CPS has yet to put on its best case about anything. It has a massive amount of evidence to analyze. Unfortunately, CPS' being careful, and slow, gives the FLDS time for more subterfuge.

John Dougherty, an author who has studied the FLDS closely says their obsession with Rozita Swinton is because of her race. His views are discussed in an article at the Southern Poverty Law Center's web site in the Intelligence Report section. Anyone interested in forming an objective viewpoint should read that article.

zxcvbnm | 4:22 p.m. June 6, 2008

RE reality Check
More like four miles to ElDorado......a nice hour stroll.
As far as leaving, the FLDS say go..just don't return.
As far as the pro/con split it was 50/50 a week ago according to an unscientific poll, there have been no scientific polls as of yet.
The only poll that really counts anyway is the Texas Supreme Court poll....6/3 with the 3 only wanting teen girls held.

virginiaboy | 4:25 p.m. June 6, 2008

Realitycheck, YOU need a reality check. If you TRULY were reading the posts by readers in other states, you would see that it is more like it is here, if not MORESO on the side of the children being returned to their parents. Why do you make up these outlandish statements without anything to back it up? Yes, alot of people are against the FLDS/YFZ ranch, and their beliefs, but more are against the illegal seizure and separation of children from their families, ESPECIALLY when there is NO EVIDENCE for such actions. I bet you're one of those folks that screams so loudly about America being duped into an illegal war in Iraq because of false information, then exonerate and justify the raid on the FLDS/YFZ Ranch by saying "it doesn't matter what the excuse was, as long as even one child is saved." How hypocritical!

Me | 4:32 p.m. June 6, 2008

They should arrest Flora Jessop. She is probably the one who made the call. She is Sheriff Doran's informant. I wonderhow much governor Perry paid her to make the call?

Anonymous | 5:20 p.m. June 6, 2008

Re interloper: CPS careful and slow??? give me a break. CPS has been as careful and slow as a catagory 5 Tornado. They sucked up those kids and threw them to the corners of Texas with all the grace of.....
well, a tornado.
John Dougherty objective....thats another good one. SPLC has a mission of uncovering racism......their job. The FLDS stance on African Americans is public knowledge, anti black.
It doesn't take an astute student of the FLDS to figure out the FLDS stance on blacks whether the student is objective or not.

Interloper | 9:06 p.m. June 6, 2008

I am glad to see the second day headline for this article is more accurate.

Yes, CPS is being slow and careful now in response to the appeals court's ruling. If not for the legal setbacks, the pubescent and adolescent girls would still be in state custody. CPS decided to start over from scratch and try to build bullet-proof cases. Unfortunately, releasing all the children increased the risk for girls who have been abused or are on the cusp for abuse.

Anonymous, I am pleasantly surprised to see you acknowledge the FLDS has a racism problem.

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