Testimony: Pregnant Teens At FLDS Ranch

"The children reported that if the prophet heard from the Heavenly Father that they were to marry at any age, they were to do that," Voss stated.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - Investigator Angie Voss, an investigator with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, indicated in testimony yesterday that some girls may have had children when they were minors.

She further testified that at least five girls who under the age of 18 are currently pregnant.

In her testimony, Voss also indicated that it was hard to tell underage teens from some of the younger adults. During the investigation concerns over the accuracy of age and status of some individuals became heightened as members gave different names and ages at various times when they were questioned.

A request has been made that DNA be taken from all of the children and their alleged parents in order to help determine biological connections. No ruling has been made, as yet, on that request.

Voss was a key witness yesterday in the custody hearing held in District Court concerning the 416 children removed from a ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Letter Day Saints. The children were taken away during a three-day raid two weeks ago at the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) ranch where members of the polygamist sect lived.

When asked where the children were now, Voss indicated that most of them are being kept in a domed coliseum in San Angelo. They range in age from 6 months to 17 years, with approximately 130 under the age of 4.

Child welfare officials have claimed that the children were abused or in imminent danger of abuse because the sect encourages girls younger than 18 to marry and have children. Hundreds of lawyers descended on district court on Thursday, as representatives of the children to call for the families to be reunited.

Voss told the court that she was concerned about the way that the children as well as the mothers followed the orders of the church's leader, called their "prophet." "The children reported that if the prophet heard from the Heavenly Father that they were to marry at any age, they were to do that," Voss stated. "If the prophet said they were to lie, they were to do that."

Currently the prophet is believed to be Warren Jeffs, who is currently in jail and awaiting trial in Kingman Arizona for promoting underage marriage. He had previously been convicted on sexual misconduct charges with regard to the rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Psychiatrist Bruce Perry, an expert in children involved in cults, testified Friday that the belief system used by the polygamous group is abusive. He had interviewed three teenage girls and spent time with other children.

He stated that teen girls do not resist getting married at an early age because absolute obedience and submission to authority is built into them since their earliest years. He stated that the girls believed they were marrying out of free choice, based on their upbringing.

"Obedience is a very important element of their belief system," Perry stated, "Compliance is being godly, it's part of their honoring God."

He also testified that he had played with some of the boys and found them emotionally healthy. He also stated that many of the adults at the FLDS ranch are loving parents.

He still maintained that the sect's belief system is abusive. "The culture is very authoritarian," Perry concluded.

The scene in the courtroom was unique with the mothers dressed in plain cotton old-fashioned dresses, hair upswept in a bun and their lawyers in tailored suits.

Perhaps the most remarkable case of child custody in the history of the United States, the incident began with a phone call to local authorities by a 16-year old girl, identified as Sarah, who indicated her 49-year-old husband had beaten her.

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