Authorities Remove 401 Kids from Religious Compound

Texas authorities removed more than 400 children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch on Monday, following a call that alleged abuse. The children were taken into state custody from the polygamist sect that officials are calling “the largest child-welfare operation in Texas history”.

The call was made by an anonymous 16 year old girl who claimed that girls as young as 14 and 15 years old were being forced to marry older men. The girl also claimed that she was being abused.

The ranch, located in Eldorado, is headed by polygamist Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This organization was once affiliated with the Mormon Church but splintered off when the Mormons denounced polygamy as a lifestyle.

Texas state troopers detained an unreleased number of men in the compound until authorities could complete a house-to-house search of the 1,700-acre property. In addition to housing the compound includes a medical facility, a school, a cheese-making plant, a cement plant, and an 80-foot white limestone temple.

“In my opinion, this is the largest endeavor we’ve ever been involved in the state of Texas,” said Children’s Protective Services spokesman Marleigh Meisner. Meisner was also involved in the 1993 siege of the David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound located in Waco.

The occupants at the ranch spent their days raising numerous children, performing chores, and tending to small gardens. One former member says that life was not some “idyllic replica” of 19th-century life.

“Once you go into the compound, you don’t ever leave it,” said Carolyn Jessop, who is allegedly one of Jeffs’ wives. Jessop and her eight children left the sect before it relocated to Texas.

Jessop stated that the isolated community emphasized self-sufficiency because they maintained the belief the apocalypse was near.

Many doomsday religious factions support self sufficiency and practice supporting life. Others, such as the Yearning for Zion Ranch, go a few steps further. Of the more than 400 people removed from the ranch on Monday, most of which were girls, many wore 19th century pioneer dress; the women wore long braids because they were forbidden to cut their hair.

Another rule in the compound is that the women could not wear red because Jeffs said the color belonged to Jesus. The residents were also isolated from the outside world.

They “were born into this,” said Jessop, 40. “They have no concept of mainstream society, and their mothers were born into and have no concept of mainstream culture. Their grandmothers were born into it.”

So what becomes of the children? Meisner reported that each child will be assigned an advocate and an attorney to represent him. Meisner expressed concern that if the children were permanently separated from their families they would have a difficult time adapting to modern life.