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162-581: The Yearning for Zion Ranch , or the YFZ Ranch , was a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County , Texas , United States . In April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property. As of 2019, the property was in the process of being sold to

324-721: A curse of bondage . Men and women are forbidden to have any tattoos or body piercings. In general, women do not cut their hair short or wear makeup, trousers , or any skirt above the knees. Men wear plain clothing , usually long-sleeved collared shirt and full-length trousers. Women and girls usually wear pastel-colored homemade long-sleeved prairie dresses , with hems between ankle and mid-calf, along with long stockings or trousers underneath, usually keeping their hair coiffed. Child Protective Services Some areas use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered (as opposed to child-centered) practices, such as "Department of Children and Family Services" ("DCFS"). CPS

486-1049: A non-governmental organization (NGO) which allows the CAS a large degree of autonomy from interference or direction in the day-to-day running of CAS by the ministry. The Child and Family Services Review Board exists to investigate complaints against CAS and maintains authority to act against the societies. The federal government passed Bill C-92—officially known as An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families—in June 2019 coming into force on January 1, 2020. The new legislation creates national standards on how Indigenous children are to be treated. For example, when looking to place kids in foster care, authorities are to prioritize extended family and home communities. The law also allows Indigenous communities to create their own child welfare laws. Indigenous children make up 7% of Canada's population, but represent about 50% of youth in care. The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI)

648-492: A $ 10,000 fine. On April 6, 2010, Arizona officials executed search warrants at governmental offices of the towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. According to one report, the warrants involved the misuse of funds and caused the Hildale Public Safety Department to be shut down. According to another report, city personnel and volunteers were ordered out of the buildings while the search

810-405: A 21-page final report on the raid entitled "El Dorado Investigation". The report found that "12 girls were 'spiritually' married at ages ranging from 12 to 15, and seven of these girls have had one or more children. The 12 confirmed victims of sexual abuse were among 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

972-434: A 29,000 sq ft (2,700 m) house for FLDS Church president Warren Jeffs , a meeting house, and several large log and concrete homes. There were generators, gardens, a grain silo, and a large stone quarry that was cut for the temple. According to preliminary tax assessments, about $ 3 million worth of buildings had been built. The sect was fined over $ 34,000 for environmental violations in connection with buildings on

1134-443: A 6-month-old girl, no evidence whatsoever of any abuse. They're simply saying, "You, in this culture, may grow up to be a child bride when you're 14. Therefore we're going to remove you now when you're 6 months old" ... Or, "You're a 6-month-old boy; 25, 30 years, 40 years from now you're going to be a predator, so we're going to take you away now." Texas requires public education for children not in private or home schooling. Although

1296-666: A 60-acre (240,000 m ) parcel of land near Mancos, Colorado, (midway between Cortez and Durango ) about the same time he bought the Schleicher County property. Allred told authorities the parcel was to be used as a hunting retreat. In July 2005, eight men of the church were indicted for sexual contact with minors. All of them turned themselves in to police in Kingman, Arizona , within days. On July 29, 2005, Brent W. Jeffs filed suit accusing three of his uncles, including Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him when he

1458-442: A Schleicher County, Texas jury found Raymond Jessop, 38, guilty of sexual assault of a child. According to evidence admitted at trial, Jessop sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl to whom he had been "spiritually married" when the girl was 15 years old. The same jury sentenced Jessop to 10 years in prison and assessed a fine of $ 8,000. On December 18, 2009, a Schleicher County, Texas jury found Allan Keate guilty of sexual assault of

1620-721: A child has been subjected to abuse or neglect. These standards guide mandatory reporters in deciding whether to make a report to child protective services. However, due to the policy of the business to protect the identity of the reporter many reports have been made due to conflict with other parents or hospitals/doctors being sued by parents concerned with the way their child's needs have been addressed. In addition to defining acts or omissions that constitute child abuse or neglect, several states' statutes provide specific definitions of persons who can get reported to child protective services as perpetrators of abuse or neglect. These are persons who have some relationship or regular responsibility for

1782-504: A child, avoiding a trial that had been set for April 26. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. On June 22, 2010, Abram Harker Jeffs was found guilty of sexual assault of a child. On August 9, 2011, leader Warren Steed Jeffs was found guilty of one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault of a child and sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years to be served consecutively. Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs had previously made calls pretending to be

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1944-482: A child. Keate fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. According to documents admitted at trial, Keate had also given three of his own daughters away in "spiritual" or "celestial" marriage, two of them at 15 and one at 14, to older men. The youngest of the three went to Warren Jeffs. Keate was sentenced to 33 years in prison. His conviction and sentence were later upheld on appeal. On January 22, 2010, Michael George Emack pleaded no contest to sexual assault charges and

2106-491: A couple from the ranch to have daily visits with their children, and granted them a hearing in 10 days to decide their children's custody. Other challenges to the blanket order by Judge Walther were filed in courts in San Antonio, Austin, and San Angelo. In November 2008, 12 FLDS men were charged with offenses related to underage marriages. On December 22, 2008, The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services issued

2268-634: A custody hearing. It is rare, but not unheard of, for CPS to be punished by a court in Texas. In April 2008, the largest child protection action in American history raised questions as the CPS in Texas removed hundreds of minor children, infants, and women incorrectly believed to be children from the YFZ Ranch polygamist community, with the assistance of heavily armed police with an armored personnel carrier. Investigators, including supervisor Angie Voss convinced

2430-512: A failing in numerous high-profile child death cases. Critics of the scheme claimed it was evidence of a "big brother state" and too expensive to introduce. As of 2018, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 , updated in 2010 and the subsequent The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report (Laming, 2009) continued to promote the sharing of data between those working with vulnerable children. A child in suitable cases can be made

2592-674: A figure of authority within the church by this time. The revelations in 2022 were to be distributed by Helaman Jeffs, and he was also given the authority to perform polygamous marriages. Helaman is using a P.O box in Ruso, North Dakota , close to a reported FLDS compound. As senior member of the Priesthood Council in Short Creek: As president of the FLDS Church: Warren Jeffs became head of

2754-457: A group of 2,000 male FLDS members voted unanimously to "uphold and sustain" Jeffs's authority. By that time Willie Jessop had publicly broken with Jeffs, putting himself forward as a challenger for the leadership, but he was subsequently declared an apostate and left the church. A 2012 CNN documentary confirmed that Jeffs still led the church from prison. In April 2008, acting on a call from an alleged teen victim of physical and sexual abuse at

2916-591: A hearing was held in Tom Green County , Texas regarding the constitutionality and legality of search warrants executed in April 2008 on the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County, Texas. On October 2, 2009, Judge Barbara Walther issued a ruling denying a defense motion to suppress the evidence seized from the YFZ Ranch, stating: The court finds that Defendants' offer of proof of deliberate falsehoods contained within

3078-405: A higher rate for African American children (53.0%) and the lowest rate for Asians and Pacific Islanders (10.2%). They conclude child maltreatment investigations are more common than is generally recognized when viewed across the lifespan. Building on other recent work, our data suggest a critical need for increased preventative and treatment resources in the area of child maltreatment. In May 2007,

3240-591: A hunting retreat". The property would be known within the sect as Yearning For Zion Ranch , or YFZ Ranch . Allred sent 30 to 40 construction workers from Colorado City–Hildale to work on the property, which soon included three 3-story houses, each 8,000 to 10,000 square feet (930 m ), a concrete plant, and a plowed field. After seeing FLDS Church critic Flora Jessop on the ABC television program Primetime Live on March 4, 2004, concerned Eldorado residents contacted Jessop. Jessop investigated, and on March 25, 2004, held

3402-462: A judge that all of the children were at risk of child abuse because they were all being groomed for under-age marriage. The state supreme court disagreed, releasing most children back to their families. Investigations would result in criminal charges against some men in the community. Gene Grounds of Victim Relief Ministries commended CPS workers in the Texas operation as exhibiting compassion, professionalism and caring concern. However, CPS performance

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3564-470: A little under 100,000 exited foster care. U.S. child protective services (CPS) received a little over 2.5 million reports of child maltreatment in 2009 of which 61.9% were assigned to an investigation. Research using national data on recidivism indicates that 22% of children were rereported within a two-year period and that 7% of these rereports were substantiated. In 2016, CPS within the state of Rhode Island demonstrated 2,074 cases of abuse or neglect among

3726-527: A means of living the traditional Latter Day Saint doctrine of the " Law of Consecration ". In 2005, the UEP was seized by the state of Utah following a lawsuit by the Attorney General . The UEP was worth $ 100 million at this time. State control of the UEP ended in 2019, with the trust reformed into a "religiously neutral" entity benefiting the original donors and their heirs, including those who had left

3888-617: A member of the church, was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and one count of bigamy for his marriage to and impregnation of plural wife Ruth Stubbs. The conviction was the first legal action against a member of the FLDS Church since the Short Creek raid. In November 2003, church member David Allred purchased for YFZ Land LLC the 1,371-acre (555-hectare) Isaacs Ranch four miles (six kilometers) northeast of Eldorado, Texas, on Schleicher County Road 300 "as

4050-522: A nephew of Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to three years' probation on a charge of custodial interference after abetting the disappearance of the daughter of a former member of the church in 2022 in accordance with the revelations of that year. By 2023, investigators stated that the members of the FLDS Church had spread out to avoid the attention of authorities, some moving north into North Dakota , and were communicating regularly with Warren Jeffs over Zoom . Warren Jeffs's son Helaman Jeffs had also emerged as

4212-794: A new constitution was written, it called for the agency to be an autonomous institution in the government, autonomous from any ministry. Today the focus is on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The agency still favors adoption, since abortion is illegal in Costa Rica. The United Kingdom has a comprehensive child welfare system under which local authorities have duties and responsibilities towards children in need in their area. This covers provision of advice and services, accommodation and care of children who become uncared for, and also

4374-638: A population of 223,956 children. As last reported in August 2019, 437,238 children nationally were removed from their families and placed in foster homes according to the federal government Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. From August 1999 – August 2019, 9,073,607 American children have been removed from their families and placed in foster homes according to the federal government Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Two often-used terms in CPS recidivism are re-report (also known as re-referral ) and recurrence . Either of

4536-457: A press conference in Eldorado confirming that the new neighbors were FLDS Church adherents. On May 18, 2004, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and his Chief Deputy visited Colorado City, and the FLDS Church officially acknowledged that the Schleicher County property would be a new base for the church. It was reported in the news media that the church had built a temple at the YFZ Ranch; this

4698-451: A son. Louisa Jessop had been classified as 17 by CPS, although her husband had previously provided a birth certificate and driver's license to demonstrate that she was 22. A CPS lawyer explained, "We can't just look at people and say, 'You're of age, you can go. ' " A spokesman for FLDS believed that CPS "just wanted to keep the mother in custody until they could get the baby". Jessop was one of 27 "disputed minors", or ranch residents about whom

4860-414: A speaking engagement, where she said, "[i]n Eldorado, the crimes went to a whole new level. They thought they could get away with more" but "Texas is not going to be a state that's as tolerant of these crimes as Arizona and Utah have been." By April 8, authorities had removed as many as 533 women and children from the ranch. On April 10, law enforcement completed their search of the ranch, returning control of

5022-548: A split within the community in Bountiful, British Columbia, with an estimated 700 FLDS members leaving the church to follow Blackmore. Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states of the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Attempts to overturn the illegality based on right of religious freedom have been unsuccessful. In 2003, the church received increased attention from the state of Utah when police officer Rodney Holm,

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5184-719: A statutory obligation to report alleged child abuse to the police. However both the Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004 make clear a statutory obligation to all professionals to report suspected child abuse. The statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 created the role of "local authority designated officer". This officer is responsible for managing allegations of abuse against adults who work with children (teachers, social workers, church leaders, youth workers etc.). Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are responsible ensuring agencies and professionals, in their area, effectively safeguard and promote

5346-627: A stipulation from the previous day between Mohave County prosecutor Matt Smith and Warren Jeffs' defense attorney, Michael Piccarreta, that evidence seized from the YFZ Ranch in Texas would not be used in any manner in Warren Jeffs' two criminal trials in Arizona. Based on the agreement of the attorneys, Judge Conn issued an order adopting the stipulation. A Utah court found Jeffs guilty of two counts of rape as an accomplice in September 2007. He

5508-670: A ward of the court and no decisions about the child or changes in its life can be made without the leave of the High Court . In 2003, the murder of Victoria Climbié was largely responsible for various changes in child protection in England, including the formation of the Every Child Matters programme in 2003. A similar programme, Getting it Right for Every Child – GIRFEC , was established in Scotland in 2008. A bill

5670-625: A young girl. She was under investigation for posing as the caller "Sarah" who complained of abuse, but she could not be found. FLDS women did not know of any such girl and assumed that it was a prank call. Sarah was considered a real person by CPS until May when her court case was dropped, effectively acknowledging that she does not actually exist. Swinton has previously been responsible for hoax calls to authorities in multiple jurisdictions, setting off large emergency responses that sometimes involved dozens of police officers. Flora Jessop recorded nearly 40 hours of Swinton's phone calls, both before and after

5832-543: Is also called the law of placing or placement marriage . The land and houses formerly occupied by the FLDS Church on the Utah/Arizona border are owned by the United Effort Plan (UEP), established in 1942 as a subsidiary organization of the church. The UEP also owns most of the property of the businesses that were controlled by FLDS Church members in that area. The church viewed this " United Order " as

5994-546: Is also sometimes known by the name "Department of Social Services" ("DSS" or simply "social services" for short), though these terms more often have a broader meaning . CPS/DCF is a department under a state's health and human services organization. U.S. federal laws that govern CPS agencies include: In 1690, in what is now the Americas, there were criminal court cases involving child abuse. In 1692, states and municipalities identified care for abused and neglected children as

6156-424: Is associated with a number of developmental problems, including dissociative symptoms, as well as depressive, anxiety, and acting-out symptoms. Abuse and neglect also affect children and youth social and emotional development due to the negative effect they have on children's cognitive development. Generally speaking, a report must be made when an individual knows or has reasonable cause to believe or suspect that

6318-482: Is being debated in the UK parliament which many people and organisations fear will take away the statutory duty local authorities have to protect vulnerable children. Children with histories of maltreatment, such as physical and psychological neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, are at risk of developing psychiatric problems. Such children are at risk of developing a disorganized attachment. Disorganized attachment

6480-644: Is recognized as prophet of the FLDS Church by some 50 followers as of 2023 . As of 2018 : In direct contrast to the structure of the Short Creek Community , the FLDS Church teaches that God only works through one man who has all Priesthood keys . In operation the President cannot be a member of the Priesthood Council . Rulon Jeffs denied succession , making his son Warren Jeffs his father renewed . The FLDS Church teaches

6642-542: Is responsible for child protection in Costa Rica. The agency was founded in 1930 by Luis Felipe Gonzalez Flores, a Costa Rican magnate at the time. It was founded to combat infant mortality, that at the time, was rampant in Costa Rica. The idea was to put infants up for adoption that the mother could not afford to support (abortion is a crime in Costa Rica). In 1949, after the Costa Rican Civil War ,

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6804-464: Is supported by evidence including aerial photographs of a large stone structure (approximately 88 feet (27 m) wide) in a state of relative completion. A local newspaper, the Eldorado Success , reported that the temple foundation was dedicated by Warren Jeffs on January 1, 2005. On January 10, 2004, Dan Barlow (the mayor of Colorado City) and about 20 other men were excommunicated from

6966-561: Is variously defined as a cult , a sect or a new religious movement . The FLDS Church has been involved in various illegal activities, including child marriages , child abandonment , sexual assault and human trafficking including child sexual abuse . The sect is not connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter-day Saint denomination. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) traces its claim to spiritual authority to when Brigham Young , then-president of

7128-503: The Children Act 1989 , is that the welfare of the child is paramount. In recognition of attachment issues, social work good practice requires a minimal number of moves and the 1989 Children Act enshrines the principle that delay is inimical to a child's welfare. Care proceedings have a time frame of 26 weeks (although capable of extension under certain circumstances) and concurrent planning is required. The final care plan put forward by

7290-529: The Children's Aid Society was founded in response to the problem of orphaned or abandoned children living in New York City . Rather than allow these children to become institutionalized or continue to live on the streets, the children were placed in the first "foster" homes, typically with the intention of helping these families work their farms as family labor. In 1874, the first case of child abuse

7452-742: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), once visited the Short Creek Community and said, "This will someday be the head and not the tail of the church. This will be the granaries of the Saints. This land will produce in abundance sufficient wheat to feed the people." In 1904, the LDS Church issued the Second Manifesto renouncing polygamy , and eventually excommunicated Mormons who continued to solemnize or enter into new plural marriages. Short Creek, located in what

7614-463: The DNA of the children and adults be tested to establish family relationships . Children younger than 4 were to be separated from their mothers over 18 after DNA samples were taken; older children had already been separated. Children were to be given individual hearings to determine whether they must be moved to permanent foster care or returned to their parents. DNA testing of children and adults began on

7776-465: The FBI named Warren Jeffs to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He was captured on Interstate 15 on August 28, 2006, just north of Las Vegas , after a routine traffic stop. The mayor of Colorado City, Terrill C. Johnson, was arrested on May 26, 2006, for eight fraudulent vehicle registration charges for registering his vehicles in a state in which he

7938-649: The Priesthood , thereby making Lorin's father, John W. Woolley , his successor by the One Man doctrine . After being excommunicated by the LDS Church, some of the locally prominent men in Short Creek, including Lorin Woolley and John Y. Barlow , created the organization known as the Council of Friends . The Council, consisting of seven high priests that were said to be the governing priesthood body on Earth,

8100-610: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found in Rogers v. County of San Joaquin , No. 05-16071 that a CPS social worker who removed children from their natural parents into foster care without obtaining judicial authorization was acting without due process and without exigency (emergency conditions) violated the 14th Amendment and Title 42 United States Code Section 1983. The Fourteenth Amendment to

8262-607: The 21st. On April 24, 2008, authorities stated that they believed 25 mothers from the YFZ Ranch were under 18. On the 28th, authorities announced that of the 53 girls aged 14–17, 31 have children or were pregnant. After the women regained custody of the children, one half of the families left the Yearning for Zion ranch and moved to another FLDS location. Carey Cockerell, representing Texas CPS investigators, said on April 30 that they have identified 41 children with past diagnoses of fractured bones. FLDS spokesman Rod Parker attributes

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8424-473: The Adoptions and Safe Families Act shifted the emphasis towards children's health and safety concerns and away from a policy of reuniting children with their birth parents without regard to prior abusiveness. This law requires counties to provide "reasonable efforts" to preserve or reunify families, but required that states move to terminate parental rights for children who had been in foster care for 15 out of

8586-483: The CPS caseworkers, not the courts. The United States government's Administration for Children and Families reported that in 2004 approximately 3.5 million children were involved in investigations of alleged abuse or neglect in the US, while an estimated 872,000 children were determined to have been abused or neglected, and an estimated 1,490 children died that year because of abuse or neglect. In 2007, 1,760 children died as

8748-417: The CPS has inaccurate or conflicting information regarding age. Child Protective Services lawyers on May 13 told Judge Walther that Louisa and the mother of a boy born April 29 were no longer considered to be minors. On May 22, CPS declared half of the alleged teen mothers to be adults, some as old as 27. One who had been listed as an underage mother had never been pregnant. Many FLDS members and supporters see

8910-619: The CPS reported that the children were playing and smiling. Mothers had complained about the living conditions inside Fort Concho, sending a letter to the Texas Governor asking him to investigate the conditions. In the letter, obtained by the Associated Press, the mothers claim that their children became sick and required hospitalization. They wrote "Our innocent children are continually being questioned on things they know nothing about. The physical examinations were horrifying to

9072-688: The CPS traumatizing the children, and disregarding rights of mothers who appeared to be good parents of healthy, well-behaved children. CPS threatened some MHMR workers with arrest, and the entire mental health support was dismissed the second week due to being "too compassionate". Workers believed poor sanitary conditions at the shelter allowed respiratory infections and chicken pox to spread. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services , as with other states, had itself been an object of reports of unusual numbers of poisonings, death, rapes and pregnancies of children under its care since 2004. The Texas Family and Protective Services Crisis Management Team

9234-515: The Colorado City Fire Department under the open records laws. Chief Barlow indicated that there were no personal charges, therefore there were no records to disclose. Records obtained by subpoena from the banks involved showed a series of purchases made by Chief Barlow and Darger that are questionable, including diapers, child's clothing, and food, although the firefighters are not fed by the department. In November 2012,

9396-658: The Colorado City, Arizona/Hildale, Utah Marshal's Office and the appointment of a federal monitor over municipal functions and services." As the basis for the legal proceeding, the Arizona Attorney General stated that "[t]he disbandment of the Colorado City/Hildale Marshal's Office is necessary and appropriate because this police department has operated for decades, and continues to operate, as the de facto law enforcement arm of

9558-465: The Dallas-based firm ETG Properties LLC, who were already leasing it for use as a military and law enforcement training facility. The YFZ Ranch was situated 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of San Angelo and four miles (six kilometers) northeast of Eldorado . The Ranch was settled by members of the FLDS Church who left Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona under increasing scrutiny from

9720-416: The FLDS Church in 2002. In the years immediately following Jeffs's imprisonment in 2007, the leadership of the church was unclear. Other claimed leaders in this period include: In 2011, Warren Jeffs retook legal control of the church and purged 45 of its members. Another FLDS member, Samuel R. Bateman, broke from Jeffs and declared himself prophet in 2019. Arrested in 2022 and charged with sexual abuse, he

9882-646: The FLDS Church. As an extension of the Adam-God teaching , it is taught that likewise there are literal children of Satan as there are literal children of God. Children of Satan were to be born with the Mark Of Cain as pay for his slaying of Abel in creation, and therefore justifying the Priesthood Ban . The seed of Cain survived the Flood through Ham's wife so that Satan would be represented, but with

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10044-428: The FLDS Church." Documents presented to the media and state prosecutors in 2022–23 indicate that Warren Jeffs issued a series of revelations from prison in 2022 reasserting his authority over the church and calling its members together. In one document from June 2022, Jeffs instructed that fathers seeking "restoral" should reunite with their wives and children, while warning that God "cannot allow sin living to dwell" in

10206-518: The FLDS compound in Schleicher County, Texas, Texas Child Protective Services and Department of Public Safety officers entered the compound to serve search and arrest warrants and carry out court orders designed to protect children. Over the course of several days, from April 3 through April 10, Texas CPS removed 439 children under age 18 from the church's YFZ Ranch, while law enforcement, including Texas Rangers , executed their search and arrest warrants on

10368-673: The NCANDS is lacking. The NIS was established in 1974, and it consists of data collected from CPS as well. However, it attempts to gather a more comprehensive picture of the incidence of child abuse and neglect by collecting data from other reporting sources called "community sentinels". Since 2004, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services had itself been an object of reports of unusual numbers of poisonings, deaths, rapes and pregnancies of children under its care. The Texas Family and Protective Services Crisis Management Team

10530-555: The NSCAW, and the NIS—and they all have their own respective strengths and weaknesses. The NCANDS was established in 1974, and it consists of administrative data of all reports of suspected child abuse and neglect investigated by CPS. The NSCAW was established in 1996 and is similar to the NCANDS in that it only includes reports of child abuse and neglect investigated by CPS, but it adds clinical measures related to child and family well-being that

10692-531: The Social Security Act mandated that states fund child protection efforts. In 1962, professional and media interest in child maltreatment was sparked by the publication of C. Henry Kempe and associates' "The battered child syndrome" in the JAMA . By the mid-1960s, in response to public concern that resulted from this article, 49 U.S. states passed child-abuse reporting laws. In 1974, these efforts by

10854-465: The State and witnesses for ranch members over a period of 2 days while hundreds of lawyers representing the children looked on and offered objections. State officials alleged a pattern of abuse by adults, including marriages between young girls and older men, while ranch residents insisted that no abuse had taken place. On April 18, 2008, after 21 hours of testimony, Judge Walther ordered that all 416 children seized be held in protective custody and that

11016-557: The Statute of the Child and Adolescent was approved ligating the government to protect child rights. This ensured a comprehensive child welfare system in Brazil. To ensure that the statute's provisions are enforced, councils for the rights of the child and adolescent were set up at federal, state and local levels. The National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CONANDA) is a federal authority. The councils of guardianship are

11178-558: The Texas Attorney General's Office instituted legal proceedings to seize the FLDS ranch property in Eldorado, Texas. The basis for the forfeiture and seizure proceeding was cited as the use of FLDS property as "...a rural location where the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities", therefore, the property is contraband and subject to seizure. On April 17, 2014, Texas officials took physical possession of

11340-558: The Texas Supreme Court, in a written opinion issued May 29, 2008, declined to overturn the ruling of the 3rd Court of Appeals. The abuse hotline calls that prompted the raid are now believed to have been made by Rozita Swinton , a non-FLDS woman with no known connection to the FLDS community in Texas. Nevertheless, a court determined that the search warrants executed at the YFZ compound were legally issued and executed, and that

11502-466: The Today Show that they were unable to visit their boys due to a shortage of CPS staff. Newspapers released names of facilities caring for the FLDS children that have requested donations of specific items, help or cash. On April 16, 2008, several of the mothers appeared on Larry King Live to ask for their children and tell their story from their own viewpoint. The program included a guided tour of

11664-521: The United States Constitution says that a state may not make a law that abridges "... the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States" and no state may "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws". 42 U.S.C.   § 1983 states that citizens can sue in federal courts any person who acting under

11826-471: The Utah–Arizona border to reduce competition for wives, filed suit against the FLDS Church. "The [boys] have been excommunicated pursuant to that policy and practice and have been cut off from family, friends, benefits, business and employment relationships, and purportedly condemned to eternal damnation", their suit read. "They have become 'lost boys' in the world outside the FLDS community." On May 7, 2006,

11988-447: The calls that they were placed by a much older woman, Rozita Swinton, who had been arrested for previous hoax calls posing as abused and victimized girls. The call triggered a large-scale operation at YFZ Ranch by Texas law enforcement and child welfare officials, beginning with cordoning off of the ranch on April 3. SWAT teams, tactical vehicles , and police helicopters were deployed to the ranch in anticipation of armed resistance from

12150-559: The capacity to initiate proceedings for the removal of children from their parents care/care proceedings. The criteria for the latter is "significant harm" which covers physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. In appropriate cases the care plan before the court will be for adoption. The local authorities also run adoption services both for children put up for adoption voluntarily and those becoming available for adoption through court proceedings. The basic legal principle in all public and private proceedings concerning children, under

12312-462: The child welfare system. Differing rates of disproportionality are seen at key decision points including the reporting of abuse, substantiation of abuse, and placement into foster care. Additionally, once they enter foster care, research suggests that they are likely to remain in care longer. Research has shown that there is no difference in the rate of abuse and neglect among minority populations when compared to Caucasian children that would account for

12474-465: The child. This generally includes parents, grandparents, guardians, foster parents, relatives, legal guardians or bystanders. Once taken away from home, the stated goal of CPS is to reunite the child with their family. In some cases, due to the nature of abuse children are not able to see or converse with the abusers. If parents fail to complete Court Ordered terms and conditions, the children in care may never return home. Most terms and conditions are set by

12636-423: The children had not been schooled while in state custody, a Texas Education Agency spokesman has stated that "there's a point at which their educational input is secondary" to their emotional well-being. CPS anticipates that the children will continue their education on the campus of their foster placement. There were no plans for the children to attend classes on any public school campus. The ACLU maintains that

12798-508: The children were being placed in a safe and secure environment, the mothers and children were actually crowded by the hundreds into Fort Concho, a military facility without adequate toilets, bathing facilities, or privacy. Mental health workers who worked at the shelter testified similarly to state officials, also citing lack of privacy, only military cots for sleeping and poor-quality food, with no communications and threatened arrest if mothers waved to friends. "The CPS workers were openly rude to

12960-441: The children. The exposure to these conditions is traumatizing." FLDS and mental health workers complained about subjecting children to interrogation sessions, invasive physical examinations, pregnancy tests and complete body X-rays. Women staying at Fort Concho shelter told the press that the temporary housing was "cramped, with cots, cribs, and playpens lined up side by side, and that the children were frightened". The FLDS described

13122-713: The church and stripped of their wives and children (who would be reassigned to other men), and expelled from town. The same day two teenage girls reportedly fled the town with the aid of Flora Jessop, who advocates for plural wives' escape from polygamy. The two girls, Fawn Broadbent and Fawn Holm, soon found themselves in a highly publicized dispute over their freedom and custody. After the allegations against their parents were proven false, Jessop helped them flee state custody together on February 15, and they ended up in Salt Lake City at Holm's brother Carl's house. In October 2004, Flora Jessop reported that David Allred purchased

13284-429: The church any longer; another, distributed in August, required that children be gathered back to the church over the next five years in preparation for the imminent end of the world. A group of mothers who had left the church stated in April 2023 that a number of children cared for by former members had gone missing since the August 2022 revelation, and were likely to have rejoined the church. In June 2023, Heber Jeffs,

13446-546: The church members, but there was none. Authorities believed the children "had been abused or were at immediate risk of future abuse", a state spokesman said. Troopers and child welfare officials searched the ranch, including the temple's safes, vaults, locked desk drawers, and beds. They found evidence leading them to believe that the beds were "in a part of the temple where 'males over the age of 17 engage in sexual activity' with underage girls". A religious scholar later testified in court that he did not think sexual activity occurs in

13608-488: The church's spokesman, refused to name the incumbent prophet "out of fear there'd be retaliation by the government". On January 28, 2011, Jeffs reasserted his leadership of the denomination, and Nielsen was removed as the church's legal president. According to affidavits submitted by FLDS church leaders, Jeffs was acclaimed as leader at mass meetings of 4,000 church members in February and April 2011, and on April 10, 2011,

13770-419: The church, but merely addressed his resignation from his fiduciary post as president of the corporation belonging to the FLDS Church. According to a Salt Lake Tribune telephone transcript, there is evidence that, when incarcerated, Warren Jeffs named William E. Jessop , a former first counselor, as his successor or, alternatively, that Jeffs had told Jessop on January 24, 2007, that he (Jeffs) had never been

13932-440: The close of the courthouse day, the opportunity to appeal the seizure expired; since no one had filed an appeal challenging the seizure by that time, the state of Texas became the legal owner of the YFZ Ranch. Officials did not release details about their future plans for the ranch at that time. On April 16, 2014, officials met with two representatives of the remaining eight adult residents and discussed arrangements for them to vacate

14094-504: The company and found that Fischer was not fired from his job, but quit instead. The district court ruling was overturned in part on the basis that Fischer was discriminated against on the basis of religion when he reapplied for his position and was denied employment because he had left the FLDS church. The parties eventually settled the case for an agreed payment of damages to Shem Fischer. In July 2005, six teenaged and young adult " Lost Boys " who claimed they were cast out of their homes on

14256-409: The conservatorship of the state get as much attention as those at risk in their homes. In the United States, data suggests that a disproportionate number of minority children, particularly African American and Native American children , enter the foster care system. National data in the United States provides evidence that disproportionality may vary throughout the course of a child's involvement with

14418-667: The creation of multiple fundamentalist organizations outside Short Creek by 1954. These included the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) and Kingston group through Joseph White Musser . In the morning of July 26, 1953, 102 Arizona state police officers and National Guard soldiers raided the fundamentalist Mormon community of Short Creek, Arizona. They arrested the entire populace, including 236 children. Of those 236 children, 150 were not allowed to return to their parents for more than two years. Other parents never regained custody of their children. The Short Creek raid

14580-494: The decision. On May 29, the Texas Supreme Court declined to issue a mandamus to the Appeals Court, with a result that CPS was required to return all of the children. The court stated, "On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted." The court also noted that although the children must be returned, "it need not do so without granting other appropriate relief to protect the children". On May 12–15, 2009,

14742-451: The definition used by Pecora et al. (2000), recidivism is defined as, "Recurring child abuse and neglect, the subsequent or repeated maltreatment of a child after identification to public authorities." This definition is not all-inclusive because it does not include abused children who are not reported to authorities. There are three main sources of recidivism data in the U.S.—the NCANDS ,

14904-442: The disparity. The juvenile justice system has also been challenged by disproportionate negative contact of minority children. Because of the overlap in these systems, it is likely that this phenomenon within multiple systems may be related. The American Journal of Public Health estimate that 37.4% of all children experience a child protective services investigation by age 18 years. Consistent with previous literature, they found

15066-592: The doctrine ( One Man Rule ) strengthened. Rulon Jeffs succeeded Leroy, incorporating Short Creek as the FLDS in 1984 to reorganize to an Episcopal polity reflecting the One Man authority. With no clear succession, Warren Jeffs assumed leadership. Winston Blackmore , who had been serving in Canada as the Bishop of Bountiful for the FLDS Church, was excommunicated by Jeffs in an apparent power struggle. This led to

15228-433: The doctrine of plural marriage , which states that God commands in order for a man to receive the highest form of salvation to have a minimum of three wives. Connected with this doctrine is the patriarchal doctrine , the belief that wives are required to be subordinate to their husbands and placement marriage . The prophet elects to take wives from men as well as give wives to men according to their worthiness. This practice

15390-480: The door for consideration of cultural issues while stressing ideas that children should be with their families, leading to the beginnings of family preservation programs. In 1980, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act was introduced as a way to manage the high numbers of children in placement. Although this legislation addressed some of the complaints from earlier pieces of legislation around

15552-462: The elimination of due process for parents, these changes were not designed to alleviate the high numbers of children in placement or continuing delays in permanence. This led to the introduction of the home visitation models, which provided funding to private agencies to provide parents with intensive services as an alternative to adoption. In addition to family services, the focus of federal child welfare policy changed to try to address permanence for

15714-420: The evidence seized could not be excluded on the grounds that the initial call may have been a hoax. In November 2008, 12 FLDS men were charged with offenses related to alleged underage marriages conducted during the years since the sect built the YFZ Ranch. As of June 2010, six FLDS members had been convicted of felonies and received sentences ranging from seven to 75 years' imprisonment. On November 5, 2009,

15876-403: The federal government, child protective services (CPS) agencies were first established in response to the 1974 CAPTA, which mandated that all states establish procedures to investigate suspected incidents of child maltreatment. In the 1940s and 1950s, due to improved technology in diagnostic radiology , the medical profession began to take notice of what they believed to be intentional injuries,

16038-415: The fractures to hereditary bone disease and believes that the fracture rate was low, considering the children's physically active lifestyle. Additionally, two children broke bones while they were removed from the ranch, and one girl broke a bone while in custody. CPS investigators also made new allegations of possible sexual abuse of boys, citing their diary notes. On May 13, 2008, a San Antonio judge allowed

16200-451: The general population, a child is four times more likely to die in the Texas foster care system. In 2004, about 100 children were treated for poisoning from medications; 63 were treated for rape that occurred while under state care, including four-year-old twin boys, and 142 children gave birth, though others believe Ms. Strayhorn's report was not scientifically researched, and that major reforms need to be put in place to assure that children in

16362-458: The lands of refuge, by the code name R17. The YFZ Land LLC, through its president, David S. Allred, purchased the ranch in 2003 for $ 700,000 and quickly began development on the property. When he purchased the property, he declared that the buildings would be a corporate hunting retreat. Allred stuck with that story even after William Benjamin Johnson, a Hildale man, was alleged to be shooting all

16524-507: The large numbers of foster children care. Several pieces of federal legislation attempted to ease the process of adoption and taking away parental rights, including incentives for adoption and removal with the Adoption Assistance Act; the 1988 Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption, and Family Services Act; and the 1992 Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Adoption, and Family Services Act. The 1994 Multi-Ethnic Placement Act , which

16686-546: The last 22 months, with several exceptions. For decades, before 1990, there had been pressure from NGOs and children's organizations for protecting children battered by poverty and hunger and despised by sections of the community in Brazil. After this, became a chapter on the rights of children and adolescents in the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. In 1990, an even greater victory, when

16848-488: The local authorities and have duties and responsibilities towards children in their area. All work is based in the Statute of the Child and Adolescents (Law No. 8,069, July 13, 1990). In Ontario , services are provided by independent children's aid societies . The societies receive funding from, and are under the supervision of the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services . However, they are regarded as

17010-470: The local authority is required to provide a plan for permanence, whether with parents, family members, long-term foster parents or adopters. The court routinely joins children as parties to their own care proceedings, and their best interests are explored and advanced by children's guardians, independent social workers who specialise in representation of children in proceedings. It is a feature of care proceedings that judges of all levels are expected to adhere to

17172-634: The media, anti- polygamy activists and law enforcement officials. Speaking in Sunday church services on August 10, 2003, Warren Jeffs declared that the blessings of the priesthood had been removed from the community of Short Creek (Colorado City and Hildale). Following the sermon, Jeffs suspended all further religious meetings but continued to allow his followers to pay their tithes and offerings to him. He then turned his focus to what he called "lands of refuge": secret communities that he had started to build up. Jeffs referred to Yearning for Zion Ranch, one of

17334-416: The mothers and children, yelled at them for trying to wave to friends ... threatened them with arrest if they did not stop waving" Workers took notes on everything the "guests" said. In many of the testimonies it was compared to a prison or concentration camp . The Christian legal group Liberty Legal Institute took the position that the state of Texas should be required to prove that the children taken from

17496-446: The parents they had lost custody. The parents and their attorney hired a medical professional who testified that the very small rib fractures, which had no evidence of internal bleeding or bruising, could have been from accidents. Eventually, the same judge who took away custody based on misinformation ordered CPS to pay $ 32,000, and he ordered the people in charge of the case to write a report about when they are and are not allowed to have

17658-482: The people at CPS in charge of the case held a hearing with a judge about whether the parents should still have custody. People at CPS did not tell the parents or their attorney about the hearing, and they did not tell the judge the children had already been removed from the home. The judge took away the parents' custody, so the children could be removed from the home – he thought the situation was an emergency. People at CPS waited until business hours were nearly over to tell

17820-429: The premises, and the following day (April 17) the State of Texas took physical possession of the property. In 2018, the ranch was reported as being disused, with the county, city and school district disappointed with the loss of tax revenue – properties owned by the State are exempt from local taxation, so the property became tax-exempt when state authorities seized it. In 2019, it was reported as having been leased and in

17982-461: The premises. The April 2008 events at the YFZ Ranch generated intense press coverage in the U.S., especially in the Southwest , and also garnered international attention. On April 18, 2008, following a two-day hearing, Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st Judicial District Court ordered all of the FLDS children to remain in the temporary custody of Child Protective Services. Judge Walther's ruling

18144-468: The probable cause affidavits to support the two warrants is unsupported by credible evidence. On November 10, 2009, Raymond Jessop was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $ 8,000 for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on or about November 19, 2004. On December 18, 2009, Allan Keate was sentenced to 33 years in prison. He fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. On January 22, 2010, Michael George Emack pleaded no contest to sexual assault charges and

18306-417: The process of being sold to the Dallas-based firm ETG Properties LLC, who were providing it to the military and law enforcement for training use. CPS websites Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (abbreviated to FLDS Church or FLDS ) is a Mormon fundamentalist group whose members practice polygamy . It

18468-441: The property to the FLDS Church. Represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid , mothers of the removed children sought a writ of mandamus against Judge Walther for her rulings because parents in Texas cannot simply appeal an emergency removal. Mandamus is available only when it is abundantly clear a state official abused his or her power. On May 22, 2008, an appeals court issued a writ of mandamus to Judge Walther and found that there

18630-497: The property was contraband and subject to seizure. Under Texas law, property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct can be seized by law enforcement authorities. In 2012 the property was appraised to have a value of $ 19.96 million, according to county tax rolls. On January 6, 2014, Judge Walther ruled that the state could seize the property, and that they could "enter the property and take an inventory." The FLDS Church had 30 days to appeal. On February 6, 2014, at

18792-545: The property. In 2012, Warren Jeffs published a volume titled Jesus Christ Message to All Nations containing various revelations, including one proclaiming his innocence and others serving as warnings to specific countries around the world. In June 2014, the Arizona Office of the Attorney General filed a motion in U.S. District Court seeking to dissolve the local police forces and "the disbandment of

18954-429: The raid and the seizure of the children from their family as religious persecution and have likened it to a witch-hunt . In May 2008, FLDS spokesperson Willie Jessop wrote a letter to President George W. Bush , asking him to intervene, and outlining the harsh conditions that Jessop believed that the children and mothers were subjected to. In the letter Jessop claimed that, contrary to statements from authorities that

19116-413: The raid on the YFZ ranch. Swinton posed alternately as "Sarah Barlow" and her sister Laura. She claimed that her 50-year-old husband beat and raped her and that his other wives tried to poison her. Swinton herself was 33 at the time, unmarried, and childless. The Associated Press reported that Texas Ranger Brooks Long called Colorado officials about two phone numbers, one of which "was possibly related to

19278-574: The raid was prompted by a single, unsubstantiated allegation of abuse, and they allege that all children at the ranch were believed at risk solely because of exposure to FLDS beliefs regarding underage marriage. But, the ACLU contends, "exposure to a religion's beliefs, however unorthodox, is not itself abuse and may not constitutionally be labeled abuse". The ACLU pointed out that parents were separated from their children without individual hearings and without particularized evidence of abuse, and that DNA testing

19440-520: The ranch by one of the mothers, showing where the children and families sleep and eat and stressing the loss felt with the children all now gone. The mothers declined to discuss the pending allegations of child abuse. On the 17th, a custody hearing began in the Tom Green County Courthouse to determine whether the children would remain in state custody. Judge Barbara Walther heard testimony from State officials, experts called in by

19602-407: The ranch were actually abused or were in imminent danger. Liberty Legal warned of possible damage to religious liberties and the rights of all Texas parents. Home-schooling families were also fearful that opponents could file similarly false complaints against families to force attendance in government-run schools. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff disagreed with the removal: Let's say you're

19764-627: The ranch, eventually a total of 462 children went into the temporary custody of the State of Texas. The children were held by the Child Protective Services at Fort Concho and the Wells Fargo Pavilion in San Angelo . Over a hundred adult women chose to leave the ranch to accompany the children. Children under the age of four were allowed to stay with their mothers until DNA testing to identify family relations

19926-439: The ranch, mainly due to its failure to obtain the required permits for its concrete-mixing operations. The temple foundation was dedicated January 1, 2005, by Jeffs. On March 29, 2008, a local domestic violence shelter hotline took a call from a woman, identifying herself as "Sarah", and claiming to be a 16-year-old victim of physical and sexual abuse at the church's YFZ Ranch. Investigators eventually established by tracing

20088-413: The recommendations of the children's guardian unless there are cogent reasons not to. Nevertheless, "drift" and multiple placements still occur as many older children are difficult to place or maintain in placements. The 1989 Children Act created the role of Independent Visitor , a voluntary post, to befriend and assist children and young people in care. In England, Wales and Scotland, there has never been

20250-487: The removals. The Los Angeles Times editorially endorsed the appeals court decision, saying CPS "was overzealous in its efforts". Several commentators compared the raid with the Short Creek raid of 1953, which was also a government raid on an FLDS community, and which led to a popular backlash against the raid. On April 14, 2008, the women and children were moved out of Fort Concho to San Angelo Coliseum, where

20412-467: The reporting party for the YFZ Ranch incident". However, the CPS acted on additional evidence gathered while investigating this complaint, and Flora Jessop and some commentators have expressed gratitude to Swinton that her tip, even if false, allowed exposure of alleged child abuses. CPS has acknowledged that some ranch residents who were removed because they appeared to be minors may be older than first assumed. On May 13, Louisa Bradshaw Jessop gave birth to

20574-469: The responsibility of local government and private institutions. In 1696, The Kingdom of England first used the legal principle of parens patriae , which gave the royal crown care of "charities, infants, idiots, and lunatics returned to the chancery". This principle of parens patriae has been identified as the statutory basis for U.S. governmental intervention in families' child rearing practices. In 1825, states enacted laws giving social-welfare agencies

20736-518: The result of child abuse and neglect. Child abuse impacts the most vulnerable populations, with children under age five years accounting for 76% of fatalities. In 2008, 8.3 children per 1000 were victims of child abuse and neglect and 10.2 children per 1000 were in out of home placement. On September 30, 2010, there were approximately 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S. of which 36% percent were ages 5 and under. During that same period, almost 120,000 birth to five year-olds entered foster care and

20898-601: The right to remove neglected children from their parents and from the streets. These children were placed in almshouses, in orphanages and with other families. In 1835, a humane society founded the National Federation of Child Rescue agencies to investigate child maltreatment. In the late-19th century, private child protection agencies—modeled after existing animal protection organizations—developed to investigate reports of child maltreatment, present cases in court and advocate for child welfare legislation. In 1853,

21060-569: The rightful leader of the FLDS. Many press accounts suggested that Merril Jessop , who had been leading the Eldorado compound, was the de facto leader of the church. Additionally, on January 9, 2010, documents filed with the Utah Department of Commerce named Wendell L. Nielsen as the president of the sect. The FLDS incorporation charter does not require the church president to be the church's prophet, but previous president Rulon Jeffs had also been prophet. In 2010, Willie Jessop ,

21222-609: The separation of mothers from their children as "inhumane". When the children under 5 realized their mothers would be taken away, the children started crying and screaming, requiring CPS workers to pry many from their mothers. The children were placed in 16 group shelters and foster homes. Minors with children were sent to the Seton Home in San Antonio , older boys to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Amarillo . Some parents stated on

21384-489: The so-called "shaken baby syndrome". In 1961, Kempe began to further research this issue, eventually identifying and coining the term battered child syndrome . At this same time, there were also changing views about the role of children in society, fueled in part by the Civil rights movement . In 1973, Congress took the first steps toward enacting federal legislature to address the issues of poverty and minorities. The CAPTA

21546-517: The states culminated in the passage of the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) providing federal funding for wide-ranging federal and state child-maltreatment research and services. In 1980, Congress passed the first comprehensive federal child protective services act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which focused on family preservation efforts to help keep families together and children out of foster care or other out-of-home placement options. Partly funded by

21708-465: The temples of FLDS sects, and that temple service "lasts a couple of hours, so all the temples will have a place where someone can lie down". Child Protective Services (CPS) officials conceded that there was no evidence that the youngest children were abused (about 130 of the children were under 5), and evidence later presented in a custody hearing suggested that teenage boys were not physically or sexually abused. CPS spokesman Darrell Azar stated, "There

21870-460: The two can occur after an initial report of child abuse or neglect called an index report. Although the definitions of re-report and recurrence are not consistent, the general difference is that a re-report is a subsequent report of child abuse or neglect after an initial report (also known as an index report) whereas recurrence refers to a confirmed (also known as substantiated) re-report after an initial report of child abuse and neglect. Borrowing from

22032-499: The welfare of children. In the event of the death or serious injury of a child, LSCBs can initiate a " Serious Case Review " aimed at identifying agency failings and improving future practice. In May 2010, the planned ContactPoint database , under which information on children was to be shared between professionals, was halted by the newly elected coalition government. The database was aimed at improving information sharing across agencies. Lack of information sharing had been identified as

22194-400: The white-tail deer on the ranch and, after an investigation, was fined for hunting without a license. Later, ranch officials disclosed that the hunting retreat description was inaccurate; the buildings were part of the FLDS Church's residential area. The ranch was home to approximately 500 people who relocated from Arizona and Utah communities. It housed a temple , a waste treatment facility,

22356-562: Was a child. The suit also named the FLDS Church as a defendant. On August 10, former FLDS Church member Shem Fischer, Dan Fischer's brother, added the church and Warren Jeffs as defendants to a 2002 lawsuit claiming he was illegally fired because he no longer adhered to the faith. Fischer, who was a salesman for a wooden cabinetry business in Hildale, claimed church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of

22518-516: Was a systematic process going on to groom these young girls to become brides", and that the children could not be protected from possible future abuse on the ranch. Interviews with the children "revealed that several underage girls were forced into 'spiritual marriage' with much older men as soon as they reached puberty and were then made pregnant". After Judge Barbara Walther of the 51st District Court issued an order authorizing officials to remove all children, including boys, 17 years old and under, from

22680-568: Was being conducted, prompting protests from Colorado City Fire Chief Jake Barlow. Despite these protests, public safety did not appear to be affected, as the county law enforcement agencies involved routed calls for emergency service through the county offices. A search warrant was also executed at Jake Barlow's residence. The search warrant affidavit states that the Mohave County District Attorney sought records relating to personal charges on an agency credit card from

22842-450: Was created by executive order after the critical report Forgotten Children of 2004. In late 2010 or early 2011, doctors became aware that two out of three children in a family had very small rib fractures. The doctors called CPS and it was agreed the parents could still have full custody until further notice, but that all three children would stay with relatives until an investigation was complete. However, soon after, for no apparent reason

23004-500: Was created by executive order after the critical report Forgotten Children of 2004. Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn made a statement in 2006 about the Texas foster care system. In Fiscal 2003, 2004 and 2005, respectively 30, 38 and 48 foster children died in the state's care. The number of foster children in the state's care increased 24 percent to 32,474 in Fiscal 2005, while the number of deaths increased 60 percent. Compared to

23166-527: Was criminally prosecuted in what has come to be known as the "case of Mary Ellen ". Outrage over this case started an organized effort against child maltreatment In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt convened the White House Conference on Child Dependency, which created a publicly funded volunteer organization to "establish and publicize standards of child care". By 1926, 18 states had some version of county child welfare boards whose purpose

23328-411: Was finished; once DNA testing was completed, only children under 18 months were allowed to stay with their mothers indefinitely. A former member of the FLDS Church, Carolyn Jessop , arrived on-site April 6 in hopes of reuniting two of her daughters with their half siblings. She stated that the actions in Texas were unlike the 1953 Short Creek raid in Arizona. Jessop had been in Texas the prior month at

23490-442: Was in an underage marriage." A year after the raid, two thirds of the families were back at the ranch and sect leaders had promised to end underaged marriages . Twelve men, not all apparently from the ranch, had been indicted on a variety of sex charges, including assault and bigamy. One child, a 14-year-old girl who was married to jailed leader Warren Jeffs when she was 12, remained in foster care . The following summer, 2009, she

23652-517: Was not enough evidence at the original hearing that the children were in immediate danger to justify keeping them in state custody. The court added that Judge Walther had abused her discretion by keeping the children in state care. The court ruled, "The department did not present any evidence of danger to the physical health and safety of any male children or any female children who had not reached puberty." The children were to be returned to their families in 10 days. CPS announced they would seek to overturn

23814-508: Was not resident, which is a felony . He was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah , and was released after paying the $ 5,000 bail in cash. On September 25, 2007, after trial by a jury in St. George, Utah , Jeffs was found guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to rape and was sentenced to ten years to life in prison. This conviction was later overturned, but he

23976-417: Was ordered without evidence that parentage was in dispute. Such actions, the ACLU asserts, "should not be indiscriminately targeted against a group as a whole – particularly when the group is perceived as being different or unusual". At the beginning of May, National Review columnist John Derbyshire called the raid the "atrocity of the [previous] month", but said he had seen only one editorial critical of

24138-617: Was passed in 1974, which required states "to prevent, identify and treat child abuse and neglect". Shortly thereafter, in 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed in response to attempts to destroy the Native Americans by taking large numbers of Native American children, separating them from their tribes and placing them in foster care or sending them to far away schools where many were maltreated, lost and some died. This legislation not only opened

24300-540: Was questioned by workers from the Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center. One wrote "I have never seen women and children treated this poorly, not to mention their civil rights being disregarded in this manner" after assisting at the emergency shelter. Others who were previously forbidden to discuss conditions working with CPS later produced unsigned written reports expressed anger at

24462-551: Was revised in 1996 to add the Interethnic Placement Provisions, also attempted to promote permanency through adoption, creating regulations that adoptions could not be delayed or denied due to issues of parental rights, the children's right, discrimination, race, color, or national origin of the child or the adoptive parent. All of these policies led up to the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), much of which guides current practice. Changes in

24624-507: Was sent to live with a relative and ordered not to have contact with Jeffs. In November 2012, the Texas Attorney General's Office began legal proceeding in an attempt to seize the ranch. In a 91-page affidavit filed with the 51st District Court of Texas, the Attorney General argues that Warren Jeffs authorized the purchase of the ranch property as "... a rural location where the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities", therefore,

24786-466: Was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years to life but while serving this sentence at the Utah State Prison , Jeffs' conviction was reversed by Utah's Supreme Court on July 27, 2010 because of a flaw in the jury instructions. Jeffs was extradited to Texas, to face trial on charges facing him there. The Texas jury found him guilty of sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of children. He

24948-459: Was sentenced to life in prison plus twenty years, to be served consecutively, and a $ 10,000 fine, for sexual assault of both 12 and 15-year-old girls. On March 19, 2010, Merril Leroy Jessop was sentenced to 75 years in prison for one count of sexual assault of a child. Jessop was convicted of illegally marrying and then fathering a child with a 15-year-old female. On April 15, 2010, Lehi Barlow Jeffs pleaded no contest to bigamy and sexual assault of

25110-550: Was sentenced to seven years in prison. He married a 16-year-old girl at YFZ Ranch on August 5, 2004. She gave birth to a son less than a year later. On March 17, 2010, a Tom Green County, Texas jury found Merril Leroy Jessop guilty of sexual assault of a child after deliberating for one hour. The court found that Jessop, 35, sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl while living at the FLDS Ranch in Schleicher County, Texas. The jury sentenced Jessop to 75 years in prison and assessed

25272-414: Was sentenced to seven years in prison. He married a 16-year-old girl at YFZ Ranch on August 5, 2004. She gave birth to a son less than a year later. On April 14, 2010, Emack also pleaded no contest on a bigamy charge and received a seven-year sentence that will run concurrently with the sentence he received for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. On February 5, 2010, Arizona Judge Steven F. Conn approved

25434-478: Was subsequently reversed by the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas in a ruling that Texas CPS was not justified in removing every child from the ranch. The 3rd Court of Appeals granted mandamus relief and ordered the trial court to vacate the portion of its order giving CPS temporary custody of the FLDS children. CPS petitioned the Texas Supreme Court requesting that the 3rd Court of Appeals' ruling be overturned, but

25596-505: Was subsequently sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years and fined $ 10,000 after being convicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault. From 2007 to 2011, the leadership of the FLDS Church was unclear. On November 20, 2007, following Warren Jeffs's conviction, attorneys for Jeffs released the following statement: "Mr. Jeffs resigned as President of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Inc." The statement did not address his position as prophet of

25758-587: Was the governing ecclesiastical body over the Short Creek Community until being incorporated as the FLDS Church under Rulon Jeffs . In 1935, the LDS Church excommunicated the Mormon residents of Short Creek who refused to sign an oath renouncing polygamy. Following this, Barlow led those in Short Creek who were dedicated to preserving the practice of plural marriage. Consequently, Mormon fundamentalists that didn't follow Barlow separated, leading to

25920-637: Was the largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history, and it received a great deal of press coverage. After the raid, polygamists continued to live there, and later the town was renamed Colorado City. Under John Y. Barlow , he claimed to be both head of temporal affairs and the Priesthood through his United Effort Plan . By 1984, a schism emerged in Short Creek who took issue with his One Man authority. These followers moved south of Colorado City to Centennial Park, Arizona and called themselves "The Work of Jesus Christ", or "Second Ward." Leroy S. Johnson succeeded John Y. Barlow , and stress on

26082-520: Was then the Arizona Territory , soon became a gathering place for these Mormons. Members of the community believed a statement published in 1912 by Lorin C. Woolley , of a purported 1886 divine revelation to then-LDS Church President John Taylor , took precedence over the 1890 Manifesto , which had prohibited new plural marriages by LDS members. The community believed that in issuing the 1890 Manifesto, Wilford Woodruff sold his right to

26244-473: Was to coordinate public and private child related work. Issues of abuse and neglect were addressed in the Social Security Act in 1930, which provided funding for intervention for "neglected and dependent children in danger of becoming delinquent". In 1912, the federal children's bureau was established with a mandate that included services related to child maltreatment. In 1958, amendments to

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