BishopAccountability.org
	Abuse Suspected in Religious Compound Raid NECN April 5, 2008 http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/Abuse-suspected-in-religious-compound-raid/1207428682.html# Play video (NECN/ABC) - Child welfare officials are trying to find foster homes for dozens of girls who may have been abused at a secretive religious compound of polygamists in rural West Texas. Eighteen girls are already in state custody. Marleigh Meisner, Texas Child Protective Services Spokeswoman: "Those are the ones that we believe have been abused, or they are in imminent risk of harm, imminent risk of being abused, and that it would not be safe those children to remain in the compound for another day." The girls, aged six months to 17-years, were whisked away in buses from the compound Friday afternoon. State troopers and child welfare officials conducted the raid in response to a physical abuse complaint from a 16-year old who lived there. A warrant has been issued for one person who lived at the compound as investigators continue their search for evidence. Officials say they are focusing on the abuse allegations, and not the religious tenet of polygamy. Marlene Hammond, Member: "They need to address the situation which is if it's an abuse, that's what it is. It's not polygamy, it's an abuse of a child." The fenced-off compound, located about 160 miles northwest of San Antonio, belongs to a breakaway Mormon religious sect--built by followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was sentenced last November in Utah to ten years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year old girl to marry her 19-year old cousin and submit to sexual relations against her will. Jeffs also faces additional, separate rape charges for arranging marriages between two teenage girls and their older male relatives.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.