More teenage mothers emerge in Texas polygamy probe

[Gunny]

By Jessica Rinaldi and Ed Stoddard

SAN ANGELO, Texas, April 24 (Reuters) - Texas authorities said on Thursday they identified 25 more mothers below age 18 among those removed from a polygamist compound, raising to about 460 the number of minors at the heart of a huge abuse probe.

An apparent phone tip earlier this month led to a raid on the ranch in a remote part of west Texas and the removal of the children. The compound is linked to a breakaway Mormon sect and is run by followers of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.

Texas welfare and law enforcement officials say they have uncovered evidence of widespread child abuse on the grounds, with adolescent girls being forced into unions with much older men.

The 25 additional teenage mothers who have been sorted from the adults and who initially claimed to be adults may provide prosecutors with more ammunition if it was found for example that some had become pregnant when they were in their early teens.

Officials would not say how old the mothers were beyond the fact all are believed to be under 18.

Authorities this week have been moving the children into foster homes as well as taking DNA samples in a bid to find out who is related to whom. About 260 remain in temporary shelter in a heavily guarded rodeo stadium in the west Texas town of San Angelo.

more ... http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-33228920080425

Kinda shines a different light on the subject ...

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Kinda shines a different light on the subject ...

No it does not, if they are 16 or older it actually means nothing at all. And that could be exactly WHY they have not provided a single age of any of these girls.

 

[jillian]

No it does not, if they are 16 or older it actually means nothing at all. And that could be exactly WHY they have not provided a single age of any of these girls.

Because, of course, raping young girls is ok when it's done in the name of religion, right?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Because, of course, raping young girls is ok when it's done in the name of religion, right?

At 16 they can marry or did you forget that legal matter?

 

[Gunny]

At 16 they can marry or did you forget that legal matter?

WITH parental permission.

 

[dread]

No it does not, if they are 16 or older it actually means nothing at all. And that could be exactly WHY they have not provided a single age of any of these girls.

It could be that they dont know all of their ages and thus have not provided them...

 

[jillian]

At 16 they can marry or did you forget that legal matter?

As gunny said.... with parental permission. They didn't get that. OR don't laws apply to religious cults?

 

[Gunny]

April 18, 2008
DENVER -- Texas Rangers confirmed Friday that a 33-year-old Colorado Springs woman is considered a "person of interest" as they investigate who made the phone call that prompted a raid on a Texas polygamist compound.

"The Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety is actively pursuing Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, Colo., as a 'person of interest' regarding telephone calls placed to a crisis center hot line in San Angelo, Texas, in late March 2008," the Texas Rangers said in a release Friday.

Two Texas Rangers traveled to Colorado Springs on April 16 and met with officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department to discuss a possible connection between Swinton and telephone calls that alerted authorities to alleged abuse at the polygamist Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) in Eldorado, Texas.

more ... http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15928947/detail.html

The raid was on 3 April. This article is dated April 18th. Says the Rangers were there "on Friday." The investigation was ongoing.

Wonder how they "knew" about the phone calls from Swinton 3 weeks before she they went to interview her as a suspect.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

WITH parental permission.

Ohh now you are going to claim they did not have parental permission?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

As gunny said.... with parental permission. They didn't get that. OR don't laws apply to religious cults?

Let's see, you two have been busy telling us all how the sect is brainwashed and that the members do what ever they are told, now you want us to believe the parents did not give permission?

Come on get your story straight.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

The raid was on 3 April. This article is dated April 18th. Says the Rangers were there "on Friday." The investigation was ongoing.

Wonder how they "knew" about the phone calls from Swinton 3 weeks before she they went to interview her as a suspect.

I guess when your prejuidiced to a case your reading comprehension fails you GunnyL?

 

[Gunny]

By GEORGE MERRITT Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado woman with a history of making false police reports used a telephone number that was later used to report alleged abuse at a polygamist retreat in Texas, a court document says.

It's not yet clear whether authorities suspect Rozita Swinton, 33, of Colorado Springs made any of the calls that triggered the April 3 raid of the compound.

Texas authorities have said a 16-year-old girl called a crisis center claiming she was abused at the compound. Authorities have not found that girl but say they have found evidence other children were abused.

An arrest warrant affidavit made public Wednesday says calls to a Texas crisis center were made from Colorado Springs-area cell phone numbers before authorities raided the compound and removed more than 400 children. One of the numbers was connected to Swinton. It wasn't known when the particular number was used.

more ... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5725355.html

And there you have it. The calls were made from Colorado Springs CELL phones; which, are no indicator of where the person actually is when placing the calls.

 

[jillian]

Let's see, you two have been busy telling us all how the sect is brainwashed and that the members do what ever they are told, now you want us to believe the parents did not give permission?

Come on get your story straight.

Theyhave to give the permission to THE STATE...not to the child.

Why are you so desperate tojustify the rape of children?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

And there you have it. The calls were made from Colorado Springs CELL phones; which, are no indicator of where the person actually is when placing the calls.

Sure thing, an area code for Colorado is an area code from Colorado. But do make excuses. Just remember when they start being even more evasive and become more dictorial YOU did not mind when it suited you.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Theyhave to give the permission to THE STATE...not to the child.

Why are you so desperate tojustify the rape of children?

You can not possibly be serious. If the Parents consented it is legal, you are a lawyer act like one.

 

[jillian]

You can not possibly be serious. If the Parents consented it is legal, you are a lawyer act like one.

The permission would have to be with the marriage license, genius.

Figure it out.

Again, why are you so vested in saying it's ok to rape children?

 

[Gunny]

Ohh now you are going to claim they did not have parental permission?

Nope. *I* am not the one claiming anything. You made a statement. I amended it with a pertinent fact. You cannot marry in this state under the age of 16 without parental consent.

I do not know one way or the other whether they have parental consent or not, since in actuality, polygamy is against the law here. A man could be married to only one. The rest would be common law.

I'm sure though that while they were consciously violating the state law against polygamy that they made sure they adhered to the one regarding parental consent.

 

[Gunny]

I guess when your prejuidiced to a case your reading comprehension fails you GunnyL?

And the sooner you admit the sooner you might be able to look at the actual facts for what they are.

Let's get something straight ... I'm tired of you accusing me of being against these people because I simply don't like them. It's a bullshit tactic, and deflects from discussing the actual facts.

I'm putting the facts out. Several media outlets. Not a cherrypicked one.

You made accusations in the previous thread. I'm presenting the facts to show your accusations are incorrect.

 

[Gunny]

Sure thing, an area code for Colorado is an area code from Colorado. But do make excuses. Just remember when they start being even more evasive and become more dictorial YOU did not mind when it suited you.

Stop ignoring the truth. The area code on my cell phone remains 210 even if I call you from Thailand, so no, it isn't quite like you're trying to make it out to be.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Stop ignoring the truth. The area code on my cell phone remains 210 even if I call you from Thailand, so no, it isn't quite like you're trying to make it out to be.

Which means an area code from Colorado remains one from Colorado. Now explain how and why the police would believe a girl that is supposedly being held against her will in a sect that does not take outsiders and does not live in Colorado would have a phone from Colorado? Further provide evidence the call center had anyway of knowing by area code whether it was a cell phone or a land line?