Children of the Compound — Judge Orders DNA Tests For Polygamists’ Children

SAN ANGELO, Texas All 416 children removed from an 11,000-acre ranch owned by religious polygamists near Eldorado must undergo maternity and paternity DNA testing this week by order of a state district judge.

The ruling was issued last Friday night along with Judge Barbara Walther’s order for Texas Child Protective Services to retain custody of the children before hearings set no later than June 5.

The children were placed in foster homes after days of being separated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound, according to a CPS spokesperson. Most of the kids were temporarily held at the San Angelo Coliseum. About 30 teenage boys were sent to a camp 400 miles away.

At question during two wild days of testimony from a child psychologist and cult expert, a state child-welfare investigator, and several FLDS mothers was whether the state could give the kids back to their parents.

Psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry testified that the fundamentalist group’s very social structure fosters abuse.

“The culture is very authoritarian,” he said. “Compliance is being godly; it’s part of their honoring God.”

CPS investigator Angie Voss agreed.

“It was a scary and intimidating environment,” she said, describing her view of the ranch’s guard tower. “I was afraid. I saw men all over.”

After being told no “Sarahs” were there, Voss said she found five, one of whom fit the description of the sex-abuse whistleblower. But the teen’s full name was not “Sarah Jessop Barlow.”

The April 3 raid was launched because a 16-year-old allegedly called the New Bridge Family Shelter claiming to have been beaten, pregnant, and forcibly married to an adult FLDS man. The girl has yet to be found.

But whether the girl is found matters not to the continuation of the case, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told CNN on Thursday.

“It’s our belief that these children who are under the age of 17 have engaged in sex with older men, which is a violation of Texas law, which is also a potential violation of the bigamy laws,” he said. “So yes, we do believe we have information that will be substantiated in court that will show there has been sexual assault as well as bigamy.”

CPS investigator Voss noted on the witness stand of Tom Green County Courthouse that 20 or more girls as old as age 13 had given birth to children at the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch.

“It was the belief that no age was too young to be married,” she said, adding that the boys should be taken into custody, too. “I believe that the boys are groomed to be perpetrators.”

However, Dr. Perry added that traditional foster care would harm the children, an admission that drew applause from the dozens of FLDS members in attendance during the 11-hour custody hearing.

Several FLDS mothe