Texas Authorities Returning Children after Raid on Polygamist’s Ranch
Two-hundred-thirty-five of the custody cases spawning from the April 3rd raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, TX have been dropped, reported CNN. Texas authorities are returning about half of the 440 children seized during the raid to their parents and guardians. The remaining children seized have been bound by court order to stay in Texas and attend parenting classes or be available for unannounced visits by Child Protective Services.
CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins told CNN that the dismissals doesn’t mean that abuse never occurred, but merely that the children can safely live with a parent or relative. The children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are part of the largest child custody battle in US history. They were taken from their home, a ranch in a small west Texas town, because it is believed that the girls were being forced into underage marriages, and the boys were being raised to be perpetrators. Authorities went to the ranch after receiving calls on a domestic abuse hot line.
