Deseret News | Barlow questioned, but not arrested, by Texas Rangers

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Barlow questioned, but not arrested, by Texas Rangers

Mistake? | 5:07 p.m. April 12, 2008

Texas rangers better hope that Mr. Barlow is lying about not having visited Texas for 10 years. Since they still have yet to find this girl (how many days later?) that made the original call...I am really starting to wonder if the rangers have been conned and jumped the gun.

Michigander | 5:31 p.m. April 12, 2008

I hope they have his DNA and match it to every young girl that has been taken in by the State of Texas from the Eldorado compound.

Contrarian | 5:57 p.m. April 12, 2008

Mistake? They so quickly went from trying to find the girl to feeding the media stories designed arouse the prurient interest of the public that the purported phone calls may have been simply a contrivance to gain entry and get search warrants for the compound. Barlow has an iron-tight alibi for the times in question so that part of her story is false. "Sarah" reported that she was pregnant, so how hard would it be to check the urine of all the female children between the ages of twelve and eighteen - that would narrow it down a bit.

Another odd thing is that the authorities "Sarah" called about her situation did not find out who her parents are. She said that they do not live there, but merely abandoned her there two years ago. Asking her for their names and address would have made the process of identifying her easier and they could have arrested her parents for abuse.

Every time the CPS is asked about her they say that they "hope" she is among the children they have in custody. I bet they do.

Comments continue below

VegasBaby | 6:26 p.m. April 12, 2008

After I read the citation from the 51st Judicial District Court that names 179 alleged parents in the suit, I can understand the mixup.

Thomas Jefferson | 7:06 p.m. April 12, 2008

Texas issued an arrest warrant, yes arrest warrant, based on a telephone call from someone they have yet to find. How can you possibly build a case without the person who made the phone calls. This case reaks with problems and mark my words before long it is going to embarrass Texas. The Rangers said they had an informant for 4 years but in all that time he gave them nothing to justify even a search warrant let alone a raid and the takng of 416 children in custody. Then they get a phone call from who knows who and anything goes, search warrants, arrest warrants, raids, taking children, seige of property and persons. Moms who can't even take with their children for now a week. This just bothers me greatly. Finding beds inside the Temple does not a crime make. Implying they are used soley for illict activity with minors without any other evidence is wrong, wrong, wrong. If that's true then let the evidence point it out rather than making inflamitory assumptions that just excite the public mind without a shread of substantive evidence. Bad, Bad, Bad!!!

john | 7:09 p.m. April 12, 2008

This polygamy game has gone on long enough. It will get sorted out. Justice takes time.

The men of this FLDS have purposely made this complex and complicated. They have set up a game. But justice will prevail.

thanks for both sides | 7:35 p.m. April 12, 2008

I think the people willing to justify the actions of the authorities lack complex reasoning skills. All they see is Child Abuse, bad, this good. People against it look at the whole situation. Child Abuse, bad, Polygamy, bad, mass raid, bad, families being split, bad, warrant on baseless grounds, bad, violation of constitutional rights, bad. And after weighing things they determine that the actions of the authorities were wrong.

On a local radio show today a young lady called up claiming she was cast off of the FLDS. She then stated that she knew of no child abuse, no one she knew married before they were 16, and that things are far worse even in Utah than among the FLDS community.

I think the authorities blew this out of proportion. As with any large group of people there is child abuse, but to what degree? I think there is far less abuse in the FLDS community than the outside world. We are basing our view on their world upon the disgruntled opinions of cast offs of their community. Too bad the Deseret News is the only media outlet willing to give us both sides.

Ted Clayton | 8:14 p.m. April 12, 2008

Dale Barlow had (was given..) plenty of free rein to run for it & hide. Judging from the spot Warren Jeffs is in, and the fact Barlow is already on probation for related offenses, that would be a tempting option if he had reason to think there could be evidence about to come forward.

Barlow has also been a known person, and a case-of-interest for some time, within a community that keeps close tabs. His location across spans of time can probably be corroborated.

But if Dale Barlow is cleared (not yet, fully), who is the girl on the tape recording in Texas, and to whom is she referring?

Barry | 8:17 p.m. April 12, 2008

Just do some DNA tests on everybody gesh. If they can prove that a baby was born to a mother that was underage while the father was not, lock him up and hire one of the Houston attorneys to represent the mother in a civil suit to go after the church assets. Hopefully the DNA evidence will prove that nothing illegal is going on in that place. Its real easy, whats the big deal???

VegasBaby | 8:56 p.m. April 12, 2008

Ted, my money's on Dan Barlow.

Lisa | 9:06 p.m. April 12, 2008

Alot of these people are closely related and DNA tests take time. Its only been a week or so.

DeLaval Milker | 9:32 p.m. April 12, 2008

These people should be able to go after this sham of a religion for cultural isolation and even their own shallow genetics. The problem right now is that they have been so controlled they don't even know how badly they've been ripped off.

Mahershalalhashbaz | 9:53 p.m. April 12, 2008

How odd the timing on this. Remember when Huckabee asked the reporter "don't mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?" Now, McCain is trying to decide who would bring the most votes to his campaign (obviously the guy who got the next most popular votes-Romney). So this whole thing is just another trick by Huckabee/followers who don't want Romney to be the VP. So they make this up, knowing that all the brain dead Americans will fall for this. They'll think the FLDS is no different than the LDS. And they were right. Americans are not very educated-they mostly graduated from public schools! if the investigators will call Huckabee and let him know they know he is involved, he will get very scared, and they can tell him if they don't confess his involvement in this, they will charge him with far worse than they were going to.

It's a mad world | 10:05 p.m. April 12, 2008

Really? Do you think there is a conspiracy to keep Romney out of the VP slot? Romney brings in the west and puts Michigan into play, but it's some of those other swing states who McCain has to get to win.
As far as Huckabee, not buying. You say Americans are not smart. I don't think Huckabee is either.
He said some pretty dumb things that showed his lack of understanding. Romney waxed everybody in the debates I thought but he still couldn't bring in the wins. But who knows.

Deep in the Heart | 10:22 p.m. April 12, 2008

Let's see, Dale Barlow was in AZ, the Texas Rangers don't have the "Sarah" whose telephone call led to the raid, and any evidence seized without probable cause will be suppressed (eventually) if and when this ever goes to court. Meanwhile, the State of Texas has undertaken to care for and feed, as well as provide counseling for, approximately 400 FLDS women and children. This is going to end badly and come with a very big price tag.

So Wrong | 10:35 p.m. April 12, 2008

This compound is just freaking evil. That is not a religious facility. And they can afford to spend money to take care of these people while they sort out charges of abuse. Taxpayers are getting ripped off with these "religions" and their status as such.

Derrick | 11:11 p.m. April 12, 2008

1. The phone call from the 16 year old is probably a prank call.
2. The 16 Year old "Sarah" doesn't exist. I bet if they released the audio of "Sarah's" phone call it would sound like a 45 year old woman trying to sound like she is young.
3. Dale Barlow has never visited the Eldorado compound.
4. Why did the county in Texas haul off the FLDS children in buses belonging to the "First Baptist Church of Eldorado"? Why didn't they use city buses or school buses if this was really a legal issue? And don't say because the buses were being used that day. Every school and city bus system keeps the old buses parked in case the other ones break down or there is an emergency. Obviously there is a conflict of interest with the County officials and their personal religious beliefs.
5. All 400+ children hauled off and their parents have had their constitutional rights violated. A single warrant cannot be used to search every household. That is what the King of England would do to entire communities prior to the Declaration of Independence.
6. Watch for the FLDS lawsuits once this Texas case unravels.

Ted Clayton | 8:15 a.m. April 14, 2008

VegasBaby - Yeah, there appears to be some leeway, whether the caller said "Dale", or "D" or ... after all, she was whispering into the phone.
~
And for sure, no doubt, clever law men could make it seem like they are interested the wrong name, so they can continue to dig & investigate, without (otherwise) really having reason to do so.
~
Just stir the pot and see what comes to the surface.

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