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	Our Opinion: Culture Shock Giving Children to Old Men for Sex Incomprehensible Times Record News April 30, 2008 http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/apr/30/our-opinion-culture-shock/ The latest revelation coming out of the raid on a polygamous compound near San Angelo, Texas, appears to be chilling evidence that something terribly wrong has been going on at the Yearning for Zion Ranch. Of course, we've suspected as much, but news out of San Antonio, where many of the children have been transported, points to our worst suspicious and requires more than a sinister imagination to conceive. Texas child welfare officials announced this week that almost 60 percent of the underage girls taken from the compound have either given birth or are pregnant right now. "It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar said in an Associated Press story. Some 53 girls, despite declarations that they are of age, appear to range in age from 14 to 17. Of those girls, authorities report, 31 have given birth or are expecting now. And there's no way to tell if those pregnant now are expecting their first. The raid occurred earlier this month after a 911 caller accused her 50-year-old husband on the ranch of sexually abusing her. All the children were rounded up, regardless of who may be linked to the accusations or, as it appears, despite the fact the call may have been a hoax. Prosecutors say that doesn't matter, that a claim of abuse must be investigated thoroughly. And you can't really get more thorough than an OB/GYN exam. State officials attest, the AP stated, that a "pattern of teen girls forced into underage 'spiritual' marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children" -- and 463 children were transported off the ranch and into state custody. Possibly not all the mothers in the sect are guilty of serving their daughters up as young wives for the men in the compound. If it's determined they were accomplices out of some sort of intimidation, they should be allowed to fight for their children. The state, now, is fighting for children who became the sexual servants of old men. A spokesman for the sect, called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, refutes the state's count of pregnant underage girls, believing that at least 17 of the girls may be adults but have been labeled as minors by the state of Texas. Getting an accurate account of age is difficult, since documentation is vague or nonexistent. You can't fake a pregnancy, though. And even though it's hard to tell a young girl's age, that usually happens when she's dressing inappropriately, wearing clothes older than she should, makeup thicker than what's typical. Those distractions, nonexistent in the sect's culture, aren't clouding a state official's view of what's young and what's old. Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 cannot consent to sex with an adult, the AP reminds us. Odds are, some of those young girls were too young to consent. Even if it's one, a thorough investigation is warranted.
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