by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 5, 2008
All Rights Reserved.

exas Child Protective Services raided a secluded compound in Eldorado, Texas built by convicted felon, former “prophet” and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was convicted Sept. 25, 2007 in St. George, Utah of accessory to rape, for arranging the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin. Before his arrest Aug. 29, 2006, Jeffs was on the FBI's most wanted list and spent 15 months on the lamb, eluding authorities until his eventual capture. Jeffs enjoyed strong support from his polygamist sect, living in southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The Salt Lake City-based Mormon church banned polygamy over 100 years ago, spawning splinter polygamist groups like FLDS. When Texas authorities raided the FLDS compound West Texas April 4, they placed 200 woman and children into protective custody.

     A 16-year-old resident of the FLDS compound complained about abuse, triggering the Child Protective Services investigation. Police records indicated that a 15-year-old girl, residing in the FLDS-owned compound, allegedly married and had a child with at 50-year-old resident Dale Barlow. Texas Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner confirmed that her agency removed 52 girls Friday and that 137 children and 46 women were detained the next day. “They seem to be doing find,” said Meisner, acknowledging that four investigators remained inside the FLDS compound. Church leaders refused to allow Texas authorities to search the Temple for the missing teenage girl who alerted Child Protective Services. Allison Palmer, a prosecutor with Tom Green County, tried to negotiate with church leaders to cooperate and surrender to Texas authorities.

     Texas officials remember all too well what happened in Waco 1993, when the FBI and ATF torched the Branch Davidian compound, killing cult master David Koresh and 82 followers. Palmer indicated she hoped the situation could be resolved “as peacefully as possible,” but was “preparing for the worst.” Medical workers were summoned to the compound “in case this were to go in a way that no one wants,” according to Palmer concerned about a repeat of Waco. Like Koresh and the Branch Davidians, church officials refused to allow Texas authorities to properly execute search warrants, claiming separation of church and state. When the state's child abuse laws are breached, authorities have the right of search-and-seizure to protect children. There's no wall of separation or privacy when it comes to suspected acts of child physical and sexual abuse.

     Texas authorities continued to search of the FLDS compound but were unclear whether they found the teenage filing the abuse report. “There were some tense moments last night, but everything has remained calm and peaceful and they're continuing their search,” said Allison Palmers, a Tom Green County prosecutor. Palmer couldn't say whether state troopers actually entered the FLDS Temple, sacred ground for the fundamentalist Mormon sect. State troopers searched the compound for evidence of a marriage between 50-year-old Barlow, a convicted child molester, and the 16-year-old recent mother. Barlow's probation office told the Salt Lake City Tribune that he was in Arizona, not Texas, at odds with the teenager's report. His probation officer Bill Loader, acknowledged that some girl had accused him of sexual assault but he denied knowing the girl.

     Jeffs' trial, conviction and sentencing for conspiracy to rape a female minor highlight the presence of dangerous religious cults operating in remote outpost around the country. While the self-declared “prophet” Jeffs conned susceptible followers into believing he was the second coming of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, the FLDS offered solace to disenfranchised souls. Polygamy attracts sexual deviates and pedophiles, hiding behind traditional practices to gratify pathological ways. Jeffs, who waits to serve his two five-years terms, is currently jailed in Kingman, Ariz., awaiting trial for four counts of incest and sexual misconduct with a minor. Countless other sexual deviates and pedophiles, affiliated with the FLDS and other religious cults, remain at large living in southern Utah and Northern Arizona, hiding behind obsolete quasi-religious practices.

     Whatever happens at the FLDS compound in West Texas, it raises a red flag about the dangers of religious cults, hiding behind religion to protect the sexual perversions of religious zealots. Jeffs got trapped in his own narcissism, indulging his sexual deviations, flaunting the state's child abuse laws. No one knows yet whether the 16-year-old teenager was really impregnated by middle-aged FLDS member Barlow. Without interviewing the girl, authorities are hard-pressed to get information off computer hard-drives or random CD roms. “He said authorities had called him in (Colorado City, Ariz.) and some girl had accused him of assaulting her and he didn't even know who she was,” said Barlow's Arizona probation officer. Whether the charges prove true or not, cults like the FLDS should not be allowed to hide behind God or organized religion.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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