On April 3, 2008, Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) authorities raided the Eldorado, Texas compound (known as the Yearning for Zion ranch) of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) polygamist sect. The authorities raided the compound based on reports that underage, pubescent girls were being forced into “spiritual” marriages with considerably older men—a violation of Texas state law.
The Texas authorities found enough evidence of abuse to rescue the children and to put them in state custody. At least 31 of the 53 girls that are 14 to 17 years old have been found to be pregnant or to have given birth, including one who had her baby last Tuesday.
The state authorities have encountered difficulties in conducting their investigation. Many of the cult members taken into state custody have been less than cooperative. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Web site explains that “the women share parenting duties” and “care for, console, discipline and breast feed each other’s children.” The Web site also explains that “when we ask a child who his mother is, he will tell us several names, because the children think of all the women in a house as their mothers, and all the children are considered siblings.”
State officials also explained that in some cases women and children interfered with attempts to identify them and removed or tampered with identification bracelets they were issued. Also, several of the girls refused to take pregnancy tests.
Medical examinations have revealed that at least 41 of the sect’s children taken into custody, including some very young children, have had broken bones. Evidence of sexual abuse of some of the young boys also has surfaced.
Given all of these alarming facts and developments, clearly the Texas authorities acted correctly in taking all the children into custody.
How do we protect against governmental “overreach” in such cases? We do so by intensive scrutiny of the state’s actions, making certain that they follow the laws enacted by the people’s elected representatives and interpreted and adjudicated by judges that in Texas are also elected by the people. And we, the people, should insist they prove their case in court.
However, to those who cry “violation of religious freedom,” I say, freedom of religion does not extend to the physical and sexual abuse of children; the state has a right and an obligation to protect children from such terrible horror; and when in doubt, the government must put the safety and welfare of children first.