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  Texas Judge OKs Moving Polygamist Sect Kids into Foster Care

Associated Press
April 22, 2008

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRHjN4hpNKBhfYyAsR4DDo4QD9073MGG0

ELDORADO, Texas (AP) — A judge gave Texas child welfare officials permission Tuesday to move children taken from a polygamist sect into foster care, while authorities continued taking DNA samples from sect members to sort out the children's lineage.

A Texas State Trooper steps into his vehicle at a entry checkpoint into the San Angelo Coliseum in San Angelo, Texas, Monday April 21, 2008. Genetic testing began Monday on 416 Fundamentalist of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints children in state custody who have been in temporary housing at the coliseum.
Photo by Tony Gutierrez

The state has custody of 437 children taken from a west Texas compound more than two weeks ago, and nearly all have been housed at the San Angelo Coliseum since then.

State District Judge Barbara Walther signed an order Tuesday allowing Child Protective services officials to begin moving the 437 children held in the San Angelo Coliseum for the last two weeks into temporary foster care, most likely group homes or privately run facilities, until individual custody hearings can be held.

Officials said they will try to keep siblings together when possible, though some polygamous families may have dozens of siblings.

Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Legal Aid attorneys representing dozens of parents, said buses were lined up at the coliseum Tuesday, but she was unsure whether any children were being moved.

CPS officials declined comment.

On the second day of court-ordered DNA testing of ranch residents, sect members moved through the courthouse square as a handful of deputies in cowboy hats stood guard.

A judge ordered last week that the DNA be taken to help determine the parentage of the children, many of whom were unable to describe their lineage. Some of the adults have been ordered by the state to submit to testing; others are being asked to do so voluntarily.

Law enforcement officials control foot and vehicle traffic into the San Angelo Coliseum in San Angelo, Texas, Monday April 21, 2008. Genetic testing began Monday on 416 Fundamentalist of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints children in state custody who have been in temporary housing at the coliseum.
Photo by Tony Gutierrez

Authorities believe the sect forces underage girls into marriages with older men. No one has been arrested, but a warrant has been issued for member Dale Barlow, a convicted sex offender who has said he has not been to the Texas site in years.

Rod Parker, an attorney for the FLDS, said he is afraid authorities secretly intend to use the DNA to build criminal cases against members of the group. But state Child Protective services spokesman Greg Cunningham said: "We're not involved in the criminal investigation. That's not our objective."

Ten lab technicians hired by the state spent Monday collecting samples at the San Angelo coliseum and fairgrounds serving as a shelter for the children who were removed from their Eldorado compound during an April 3 raid.

Some of those technicians were to be sent to Eldorado on Tuesday to collect samples from the possible parents. Family relationships are immensely tangled within the sect, where multiple mothers live in the same household and children refer to all men in the community as "uncles."

Authorities say they need to figure that out before they begin custody hearings to determine which children may have been abused and need to be permanently removed from the sect compound, and which ones can be safely returned to the fold. For now, they're all in state custody because child welfare officials believe sexual abuse has occurred or could occur imminently because of the teachings of the sect.

State social workers have complained that sect members have offered different names and ages and had difficulty identifying their mothers.

A Texas State Trooper stands by a check point at an entrance into the San Angelo Coliseum in San Angelo, Texas, Monday April 21, 2008. Genetic testing began Monday on 416 Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints children currently in state custody.
Photo by Tony Gutierrez

Parker acknowledged that family names within the sect can be confusing, but said: "No one is trying to deceive anyone. ... It's not sinister." Instead, he said that because many of the sect's marriages are not legal, adults and their children may legally have one name but use another within the community.

The collecting of DNA is likely to take most of the week, and it will be a month or more before the results are available, said Janiece Rolfe, a spokeswoman for the Texas attorney general's office.

The children will be placed in group homes or other quarters until individual custody hearings can be completed by early June. Officials said they will try to keep siblings together when possible, though some polygamous families may have dozens of siblings.

The testing will involve 437 children and possibly hundreds of adults. Each person who submits to a test will be photographed, and the inside of his or her cheek will be swabbed to remove cells for analysis.

The DNA sampling is an enormous undertaking for a state that typically tests only 1,000 children a year.

 
 

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