315 now dropped from FLDS custody case
More children from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's Yearning for Zion Ranch have been dropped from court oversight in the ongoing custody case in Texas.
Eleven more children were "nonsuited" on Tuesday, Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said. That brings the total number of people dropped from the court case to 315.
The Deseret News' ongoing tally includes 26 so-called "disputed minors," women whom CPS initially believed were minors but were later nonsuited when they were determined to be adults.
The reasons for nonsuiting a child vary, CPS said, including no evidence of abuse or the parents taking appropriate steps to protect the child from harm. A nonsuit effectively ends the court oversight and requirements for the parents, although CPS could still maintain some role in working with the families.
Hundreds of children were taken into state protective custody in April when authorities raided the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado after receiving a phone call alleging abuse, including underage marriages. The 439 children were ordered returned to their families two months later when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not at immediate risk for abuse.
Nine people, including Jeffs, have been indicted by a Texas grand jury on a series of charges ranging from sexual assault to bigamy to failure to report child abuse, connected to underage marriages. The men are scheduled to appear in an Eldorado court again on Oct. 27.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
Recent comments
Ditto Gramps........It is not my religious belief either....…
Ditto Gramps | Oct. 15, 2008 at 1:37 p.m.
Wow, zxcvbnm, that was DEEP. I don't practise polygamy though I…
Grandpa Phil | Oct. 14, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
The issue isn't polygamy or LDS teachings. There are the same…
zxcvbnm | Oct. 9, 2008 at 4:31 p.m.
