Special Report: The Removal of 419 Children from the FLDS Ranch

Perhaps the largest child welfare action ever undertaken recently took place in Eldorado, Texas, when 419 children were removed from a ranch run by a polygamist sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints. As we continue to follow the unfolding story, what do we know about the FLDS, the group that has caused such a stir?

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - On March 29th at 11:32 p.m. a sixteen-year-old girl called an unnamed agency from a cell phone reporting that she had been physically abused.

Speaking quietly in order not to be heart, she told the agency official that she was spiritually married to a 49 year-old man three years ago when she had arrived at a compound run by The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, called the YFZ Ranch.

She was now living as his seventh wife.

The girl went on to say that her husband had recently beaten her, which resulted in broken ribs, and she now feared for her life.

This phone call led to a full-scale rescue by authorities of all 419 children who had been living in the compound. They are now in the custody of the Texas Division of Child Protective Services along with 133 women who went with them.

A member of the FLDS, a polygamist sect, had purchased the 1400-acre ranch four miles from Eldorado, Texas in 2003.

So far only two arrests have been made with regard to the case having to do with interfering with the duties of a public servant and evidence tampering. Additional legal action is still unfolding.

Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for the Texas Division of Child Protective Services, has not yet confirmed whether the state will ask for the children to be removed from their mothers. "It's absolutely too soon to make that decision," she said.

According to the agency an attorney and child advocate will be appointed for each child to represent his or her interests in court. A hearing will be held April 17th by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther to listen to arguments by the state as to why the children need protective custody.

As we continue to follow the unfolding story, what do we know about the FLDS, the group that has caused such a stir?

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and other similar groups began to take prominence during the 1920's and 30's as the main body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka the Mormons) continued to repudiate their earlier teaching concerning polygamy which it refuted in 1904.

Settlements of Mormons in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah were two major expressions of polygamy in the church at that time. Upon excommunication in 1935, led by John Y. Barlow, a group of Mormon Fundamentalists re-formed and continued to the practice of multiple messages.

The subsequent years were not peaceful as contentions arose on how polygamy should be practiced. Multiple schisms left the groups fractured, with one of them being the FLDS, which now numbers somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 followers.

The recent leader of the FLDS was Rulon Jeffs who assumed the role of "Prophet" in 1986. With declining health in more recent years his son, Warren, began to emerge as the leader.. Following Rulon Jeffs' death, however, in 2002, proclaimed himself the Prophet and assumed complete authority.

Members of the sect continue to practice polygamy. They teach that the doctrine of plural marriage, where a man has multiple wives, is ordained by God. They also believe that a man must live in this state to receive the highest form of salvation.

The common practice in the FLDS is for a man to have a minimum of three wives in order to fulfill this requirement. The wives are taught that they must live in a subordinate way with their husbands.

When she reaches a marriageable age, young women are assigned a husband according to a "revelation" from the leader (the Prophet) of the church. This is called "the law of placing." The prophet can also choose to take wives from one man and give them to another who has been deemed more worthy.

A strict dress code is required of all members. Women are not allowed to wear pants, but must always be in skirts hemmed below the knee. They are also forbidden the use of makeup. Men are required to dress modestly in pants and a collared shirt. Neither men or women are allowed tattoos or piercings.

The group has surfaced in the news periodically over the years.

•In 2003 a member of the church who was also a police officer was convicted by the State of Utah of unlawful sexual conduct.

•In July 2005 eight men of the church were indicted in Arizona for sexual contact with minors.

•On July 29, 2005, Brent Jeffs filed suit accusing three of his uncles, including Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him when he was a child.

•Warren Jeffs was named on the FBI's list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in 2004 for sexual misconduct with minors and arrested in 2006. He reportedly resigned his leadership of the FLDS Church, after being convicted of being an accomplice to rape by the state of Utah in 2007.

The language crafted in his statement of resignation leaves open the possibility that he is still the prophet of the FLDS church and no other successor has been named. He is serving ten years to life.

•Some believe William E. Jessup was Jeffs' choice as successor, but no one really knows for sure.

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