Photos appear to show sect leader kissing girl
(CNN) -- Pictures showing the leader of a polygamist sect kissing a girl
who appears to be a minor have been introduced into evidence in the legal
battle over the seizure of more than 400 children from the sect's Texas
ranch.
A photo of sect leader Warren Jeffs apparently kissing a minor is part of
evidence in the Texas custody case.
The pictures show Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with two females who appear to be
under 18. In both sets of pictures, Jeffs and the females are kissing.
One set of pictures is labeled "first anniversary -- January 26, 2005."
The photos have been entered into evidence in Tom Green County District
Court as part of a custody case involving a family whose children were
among those removed last month from the FLDS' Yearning For Zion Ranch
near Eldorado, Texas. About 460 individuals were removed, although up to
20 were found to be adults.
State officials have maintained that they found a "pervasive pattern" on
the ranch of girls being forced into underage marriage to older men. The
photos appear to be part of an effort to show that the FLDS not only
allows such underage marriages, it encourages them.
One of the girls shown in the photos is an aunt to the children involved
in the custody hearing and lived on the YFZ Ranch, according to
information given in court. Her birth date was given as July 1994,
meaning she is 13.
The girl was taken into state custody by child welfare officials during
the raids that began April 3. She was set to testify in her brother's
custody case, but the parties reached an agreement before her testimony
was required. Under terms of that agreement, the children's mother will
be allowed to remain with them in state custody and keep them together
for now.
Texas' Child Protective Services has refused further comment on the
photos.
But Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City, Utah, attorney who has been a spokesman
for FLDS families, said Tuesday that the photos were "just an effort by
CPS to try to get publicity for their larger attempt to paint everybody
with the same brush."
"What I'm saying is, that isn't fair, and each parent of each family is
entitled to stand on its own," Parker said. "And these photos have no
ties to this particular family in a way that's relevant to these
proceedings."
Jeffs, 52, is in a Utah prison, serving two consecutive terms of five
years to life after a conviction on two charges of being an accomplice to
rape in connection with a marriage he performed in 2001. He also faces
trial in Arizona on eight charges, including ***ual conduct with a minor,
***** and conspiracy.
Jeffs' trial thrust the FLDS into the national spotlight, and last
month's raid on the YFZ Ranch intensified scrutiny of the sect.
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The seizure of the children is the focus of a court battle in Texas. The
Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals said last week that the state had no
right to remove children in a case involving 38 FLDS mothers and 124
kids.
Attorneys in the case have said a similar reasoning could be applied to
all the children taken into foster care. The state has appealed to the
Texas Supreme Court.
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Nice eh?
Let's hope the Texass Supreme Court comes down on the side of the kids
and NOT the fundie pedophiles, although this IS texass, an inbred
****hole, where baby raping and pedophilia appears to be legal just so
long as you wave a bible around .....
--
AW
<small but dangerous>
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