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FLDS mother wants jury to decide custody

Why doesn't Merril do something to help his child instead of hiding?

That makes me sick. To hide under a religion to do this. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Perhaps her mother doesn't believe she was abused because she wasn't. C'mon CPS what abuse exactly did the girl suffer? CPS wasn't specific in the hearing and they still aren't specific. They are hanging on to this poor girl to show the world that they saved "just one" from abuse, making the ruthless raid worth it.

The girl never suffered abuse, and never was in danger of abuse. Let it go CPS; you're just setting yourself up for a lawsuit later on.

As long as this mother is arrogantly refusiing to offer protection for her daughter, then the court needs to keep her in foster care.
She refused from the begining to keep her daughter away from those indicted and is still refusing.

Ok, maybe I am missing something, but that photo looks seriously doctored. And no, I'm not talking about the blurred face. Since when does a flash camera leave a shadow like that? Sharp shadow to the right even though the camera looks like it's right in front of them. The light source is all wrong. The shadow's width & focus don't work, they look like their faces are right up against the wall. The shadow of her dress is the same width as the guy's suit, even though it's closer in the foreground.

Also, is she sitting on a stool or what? There is no weight to her. He's holding her but he's not really holding her. Her arms are bent--his show absolutely no strain. She is floating.

For the record, I am LDS not FLDS and I have no idea whether there's abuse here or not. But I work with Photoshop and to me, this photo looks fishy. Maybe someone who knows about the photo can explain the shadow and the weightless girl.

some bad flash snapshots leave shadows like that.

but the weightless girl is very interesting. maybe she is sitting on his knee

HAHAAH, nice try!!! Hes 50, shes 12yrs old. She probably doesnt weigh 90 pds. Of course the picture isnt doctored. The pictures came from evidence taken from the ranch.

Having lost the battle hundreds of times over, they continue to fight tooth and nail over this one girl without regard for what's best for her, simply because she's all they have left. An abusive sect HAS been found in Texas, and it's called CPS.

The texas cps is clinging to this girl as a mother would. Where is the public outrage? Get cps back where they belong, under the porch.

Doctor/Patient confidentiality seems to be a concept that escapes the State of Texas and CPS when it suits their needs. How sad that they feel the need to destroy the privacy and the life of a 14 year old young woman as they scramble to save face. Since when is it the policy of CPS and the State to release the contents of therapy sessions to the press?

I would also like to see proof of the alleged letters from the unnamed blog suggesting kidnaping. Having followed this mess from the beginning, I am pretty sure which blog it is that they refer to and have yet to see any letters anything other than legal remedy to the issue and the only references to kidnaping being that of the actions of CPS and the State of Texas.

There is much going on here that I am convinced suggests that the behavior of the State of Texas and CPS will prove to be more despicable than any actions of the FLDS. Given that statistics prove that any child taken into the CPS system is four times more likely to come to abuse or physical harm than if they were to stay in what may even be an abusive home and that CPS has been proven to lie and cheat to prove their case and act with no regard to the laws and constitution of the US, how can we trust any "evidence" they choose to present in such a well publicized case? Their track record speaks for itself and I for one, wouldn't give them the responsibility to care for a gerbil, let alone something as precious as a child.

Is this the same Merril and Barbara from Carolyn's book "Escape"? If so, I'm not at all surprised by Barbara's behavior. She doesn't care about her children.

CPS is trying with all their might to justify their insidious misconduct and use of taxpayers money! They have thought for years that they could take healthy children and adopt them out for a mere $6000 to cushiion their establishment. They never cared what happened more with the child or the family. Now, the people of this grand country have got to stop this UNCONSTITUTIONAL outrage! Just how the picture looks, the wording CPS is using, all shows that they KNOW they are lying and not showing/telling the American People the truth.

They have got away with it in smaller cases and now they think they can again. All AMERICANS write to your congressmen about this atrocity before this happens to you or someone you love!

Barbara Jessop is just one little mother against a monster establishment. That is why CPS thinks it can throw out the lies to the public. How many people are going to swallow their crap? Are you??

Besides, Fredrick Meade Jessop is one of the men that turned himself in on a grand jury indictment. Obviously CPS is lying one more time.

JJ | 7:55 a.m. Jan. 6, 2009
There is much going on here that I am convinced suggests that the behavior of the State of Texas and CPS will prove to be more despicable than any actions of the FLDS. Given that statistics prove that any child taken into the CPS system is four times more likely to come to abuse or physical harm than if they were to stay in what may even be an abusive home and that CPS has been proven to lie and cheat to prove their case and act with no regard to the laws and constitution of the US, how can we trust any "evidence" they choose to present in such a well publicized case? Their track record speaks for itself and I for one, wouldn't give them the responsibility to care for a gerbil, let alone something as precious as a child.
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YES! YES! YES! YES!!! Thank-you for a common sense post!

The number of people who will leap to the defense of child molesters, twisting facts every which way and searching desperately for conspiracy theories ("the photo was doctored") is truly astounding.

"Attempts to find relatives to care for her have not worked out, CPS said, noting one did not believe the girl had been abused and "agrees with underage marriage and supports plural marriages."

This quote says a lot about the culture of underage marriages among the FLDS. GOOD FOR CPS FOR INVESTIGATING THIS HEINOUS PRACTICE!!!

This is purely a religious conflict. CPS is trying to convert the FLDS to their religion of hate and destruction of family, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So far there isn't even one convert. Everyone in the FLDS religion I've seen seems to be happy, including the children. Only those who hate or are jealous could see abuse in those faces, before they were taken from the ranch. If CPS is allowed to succeed against the FLDS, which religion is next? until we are all converted to the religion of hate, enforced by weapons of mass destruction if we don't succumb.

The girl doesn't weigh anymore than 50 pounds in the picture. Warren Jeffs looks like he's holding a feathered pillow and no straining holding her. Not a grown woman by any means.

JJ

Doctor's are required to report a crime against a child to the authorities. It doesn't sound like you are concerned with the child's privacy, just the privacy of the adult perpetrator.

It's a doctored photo. Look at the girl's huge hand, which is as big as his. The kissing photo also looks as if the faces are superimposed.

I'm not saying there wasn't some kind of betrothal -- just as many cultures arrange their daughters marriages long before their actually consummated -- but the kissing shots seem a bit far-fetched, even for this religion.

At any rate, CPS needs to make clear whether they believe actual sexual assault occurred, or was it just a superficial/cultural sealing ceremony, not to be consummated until she became of legal age.

I'm glad to see that almost all the FLDS mothers have succeeded in getting their children back. Unlike Barbara Jessop, maybe they've realized that their first responsibility is their chilren's welfare, not blind obedience to some pedophile 'prophet.' If only Barbara Jessop would take similar steps to ensure the future safety of the children in her care.