Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

Polygamist Hearing Has Chaotic First Day

State plans to relocate sect's 416 children

(Newser) - Lawyers for the state of Texas told a chaotic, objection-filled hearing today they would press for psychiatric evaluations and genetic testing of all members of a polygamist sect, the New York Times reports. On the first day of a custody hearing to determine the fate of the sect's 416 children,...

Texas Officials Justify Splitting Sect Families

Child-welfare authorities cite need to break 'code of silence'

(Newser) - Texas family-services officials today defended their decision to separate the mothers and children removed from a polygamous Mormon sect last week as the only way to get at the truth about alleged child abuse, the Houston Chronicle reports. Fifty-seven of the 139 mothers were forced to leave the group of...

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch
Moms Return
to Polygamist Ranch
Apr 14, 2008 8:28 PM CDT

Moms Return to Polygamist Ranch

Texas moves their kids to new shelter, plans legal battle

(Newser) - Nearly 140 women from a polygamist sect returned home today as officials moved their kids to a new shelter, the AP reports. The mothers had joined 416 children who were seized by Texas troopers 2 weeks ago and taken to a historic fort. Today officials moved the kids to a...

Poor Conditions Behind Moving of Sect's Kids

416 children being taken to undisclosed 'suitable' Texas location

(Newser) - Over 400 children seized from a polygamist sect are being bused to a more "suitable" location from their current West Texas housing, a state official tells the Houston Chronicle. Women inside Fort Concho complained over the weekend of cramped conditions at the temporary shelter. The state plans to ask...

Polygamist Moms Beg Governor for Help

Claim state is 'traumatizing' their kids

(Newser) - Mothers from a polygamist Texas sect are appealing to the governor to investigate the welfare of their children in state custody, AP reports. Three moms sent a letter claiming that several of the 416 kids seized in a raid on their compound because of suspected child abuse have been hospitalized,...

Police Fear Stonewall by Polygamist Settlers

Faithful see government as 'devil'

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs' hand-picked, devoted settlers may refuse to testify against his polygamist compound in Texas, officials fear—making it tough to win cases of suspected child abuse. "All these girls are taught from the cradle not to trust anybody from the outside—especially the government," Utah's attorney general...

Rangers Talk to Polygamist Rape Suspect

But Barlow walks, claiming case of mistaken identity

(Newser) - Texas Rangers today questioned a man suspected of raping a girl at an Eldorado polygamist ranch, but let him go, CNN reports. Dale Barlow, 50, voluntarily met the Rangers in Utah, saying he is innocent of the charge that sparked a raid at the compound last week. "The Texas...

Top 10 Crazy Cults
 Top 10 Crazy Cults 
Apr 12, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Top 10 Crazy Cults

Polygamists, UFOs, and apocalyptic prophesies abound

(Newser) - Experts are debating whether the polygamist sect raided in Texas last week is a cult. Meanwhile, LiveScience has cooked up a list of bona fide cults—the top 10 craziest of them all:
  1. Raëlians: Followers believe that UFOs spawned most religions and cloning can lead to reincarnation.

Police Defend Inaction at Polygamist Ranch

Bare dramatic details of raid

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities yesterday released dramatic details of the police raid that rescued children suspected of abuse at a polygamist ranch—and countered complaints that the action was too late. Some 60 men surrounded the ranch temple, weeping and praying, in the last day of the operation that seized 416...

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?
Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult? 
Apr 10, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

Texas Polygamists: Sect or Cult?

Sociologist explores such groups and what keeps people there

(Newser) - While much of the media is calling the polygamous group raided in Texas a “sect,” some experts say it’s better defined as a cult, LiveScience reports. One scientist points out that the word “cult” is often avoided in academia for its negative connotations. But “if...

'Sex Bed' for Girls Found in Polygamist Temple

Temple used for sex with underage brides, tipster tells cops

(Newser) - Members of a polygamous cult had sex with underage girls inside the group's temple immediately after "spiritual weddings," according to court documents. Investigators found the bed, described by a tipster, in the temple of the Texas ranch. Men had sex with "brides" as young as 13, reports...

Sex Abuse 'Rampant' at Polygamist Ranch

Pubescent girls forced to 'marry' older men, say investigators

(Newser) - Young girls at a polygamous compound were readied for "spiritual marriages" to much older men as soon as they hit puberty, the AP reports. Papers submitted to a Texas court detail a "pattern of abuse" at the ranch, where young boys were forced to marry underage girls and...

Control, Isolation Kept Polygamist Wives Silent

Women in Texas compound have a fierce loyalty to leader Warren Jeffs

(Newser) - They can't cut their hair, wear red, watch TV, look at the Internet, or even laugh. They must be utterly subservient to their husbands. So why did the women now emerging reluctantly from a polygamous compound in Texas stay? They are under the almost godlike sway of jailed leader Warren...

534 Taken From Polygamist Ranch

Cops arrest one for interfering with evacuation

(Newser) - Texas officials have removed 534 people and arrested one in an ongoing raid of a polygamist ranch near Eldorado, the San Angelo Standard-Times reports. But the man they collared is only charged with obstructing the 4-day raid, not committing the rape that sparked it. Meanwhile, at a nearby historical fort,...

Search Continues for Teen Who Sparked Raid on Sect

More than 200 women, children still held after move from polygamist compound

(Newser) - Officials are still searching for the 16-year old girl whose abuse complaint set off the raid of a polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports. Over 200 women and children were bussed out of the facility for questioning; the girl, who claimed to have a baby with the...

Standoff Ends at Polygamist Compound

Police still searching for girl linked to abuse claim

(Newser) - Though "preparing for the worst," a SWAT team peacefully entered a polygamous sect's Texas compound after a tense standoff, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. They met limited resistance from members of the Mormon fundamentalist sect, and were continuing to search this morning for a 16-year-old girl believed to...

Nearly 200 Pulled From Polygamists' Ranch

State workers question kids about abuse, neglect claims

(Newser) - State workers bused out dozens more women and children today from the Texas compound of a polygamous sect, CNN reports. Troopers and child protection officers have removed 183 people, 137 of them children, since sealing off the ranch Thursday night. Investigators are now interviewing the kids, most of them girls,...

Texas Pulls 52 Kids From Sect Compound

Rape charge sparks move at Warren Jeffs' polygamy site

(Newser) - Texas authorities pulled 52 kids from the compound of a polygamous sect today after a girl said she was raped there, the Houston Chronicle reports. Eighteen of the children were bussed out by court order, based on claims of abuse or neglect, and put into temporary custody. State troopers are...

Jeffs Gets Two Terms on Rape Charges

Polygamy leader sentenced as accomplice in Utah

(Newser) - Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs received consecutive five-year-to-life terms today for two counts of accomplice to rape, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. A Utah judge also made him pay $18,500 on each count of forcing an underage girl to marry in 2001 at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ...

Jury Finds Polygamist Sect Leader Guilty

Jeffs convicted on 2 felony counts of rape as accomplice

(Newser) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was convicted today on two counts of rape as an accomplice for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin. The jury reached a verdict just hours after one member was replaced for undisclosed reasons, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Jeffs faces 5 years...

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser