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Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Texas Issues Report On Raid of FLDS Ranch

By Howard M. Friedman

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On Monday, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) issued a 21-page report (full text) defending its highly publicized April raid of the polygamous FLDS Church's Yearning For Zion Ranch. It said that

12 girls are confirmed victims of sexual abuse and neglect because they were married at ages ranging from 12 to 15. There were 43 girls removed from the ranch from the ages of 12 to 17 ? which means that more than one out of every four pubescent girls on the ranch was in an underage marriage. 262 other children were subjected to neglect because parents failed to remove their child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to sexual abuse committed against another child within their families or households.

Cases involving 424 children have been nonsuited. Lawsuits are pending in the cases of 5 mothers and their 15 children. The state has conservatorship of two girls, one of whom is with her mother. DFPS summarized its role:

In these cases, DFPS?s sole purpose was to protect the children, reunite them with their families when the children?s safety could be reasonably assured, and give those families better tools to protect their children from abuse or neglect in the future.

Yesterday's Dallas Morning News covers the DFPS report. (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 24, 2008 (boomark / email).