Shocking Texas Sect Stories Continue

By Pamela Mortimer

On Monday, Texas state officials reported that 31 of the 53 teenage girls removed from the Yearning for Zion compound in Eldorado, Texas are pregnant or have already given birth. The girls, ranging from ages 14-17 are currently in custody of the state.

Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar did not specify how many of the girls are currently pregnant.

"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," Azar said.

Law enforcement authorities removed a total of 463 children from the ranch that was controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a radical organization that had splintered from the Mormon Church due to the latter’s disapproval regarding polygamy. Officials reported there existed a pattern of teenage girls being forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.

According to Texas law, children under the age of 17 cannot consent to sexual intercourse with an adult. A girl may get married at age 16 with parental permission but none of these girls is believed to have a legal marriage on record.

State officials had released an earlier report stating they had discovered girls on the ranch who were pregnant or had children of their own but detailed estimates were not available until Monday.

Church officials maintain that none of the children at the ranch was a victim of abuse and claim that the state's actions are "a form of religious persecution".

FLDS spokesman Rod Parker has refuted the CPS count, saying it is inaccurate. Parker claims to have gathered information from ranch residents that shows at least 17 of the girls may be considered adults but have been labeled by CPS as minors.

Authorities have challenged the claims of adulthood among the girls since the raid took place. In some cases law enforcement has been able to dispute documentation provided by the church, saying the girls look younger than 18. Because many FLDS members have similar names as well as "complicated family relationships", confirming the identity of all of the children taken into the state’s custody has been a daunting task.

"I do have serious questions about how they are determining age in there," said Parker, who continues to work on getting accurate information from the children’s families.

Parker added that the search has proved to be more difficult than expected because law enforcement confiscated all documents that might be able to show family relationships proving names and ages of the children.

The latest report from CPS comes with "absolutely nothing to back it up other than it's coming from them, and they think we should trust them," Parker said.