Texas still looking for 5 indicted FLDS men

ELDORADO, Texas — The search continues for five members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church who were indicted by a grand jury here.

"No one has been arrested yet," Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said Wednesday.

The names of the men will remain sealed by court order until they are in custody.

A Texas attorney who represents several men from the Yearning for Zion Ranch expressed frustration to the Deseret News on Wednesday that Texas authorities won't reveal the names of those indicted. The attorney, who asked not to be identified, said members of the polygamous sect would be willing to surrender if they knew they were indicted. But as it stands, Texas Rangers will have to arrest them before attorneys can even get involved.

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said warrants have been issued and told the Deseret News he believes the wanted men have left the area.

In Utah, Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said his office has not been contacted about finding anyone in the FLDS enclaves of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

"We're always willing to assist in any way we can," Smith said.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency that received heavy criticism after taking hundreds of children from the YFZ Ranch in April, issued a statement saying it feels some vindication by the indictments.

"The indictment seems to indicate CPS was correct in its belief that some children at the ranch had been sexually abused, and all children are at risk in a community in which adults do not take a stand against the abuse taking place in their homes," said Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins.

Child welfare workers and law enforcement seized the children based upon a phone call alleging abuse. They were all returned after two Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly. The call that sparked the raid is still being investigated as a hoax.

Ironically, parenting classes the FLDS parents were ordered to attend by Judge Barbara Walther as part of the condition for them to be returned to their families were scheduled to begin Saturday. Crimmins said the CPS parenting classes will be held throughout the state.

He said the lessons are not "cookie-cutter classes." While some basic elements are given in all parenting classes, each one is designed to specifically address the parent in question. In this case, Crimmins said the classes have been drawn up to deal with the FLDS women. He said they would likely be attending classes with only other women from the polygamist sect and not with women who are not from the ranch.

FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and four of his followers were indicted Tuesday by the Schleicher County grand jury on sexual assault charges. Jeffs is accused of sexually assaulting a girl under 17 in January 2005. One of the indicted men was also charged with first-degree felony bigamy. A sixth man was indicted on three counts of misdemeanor failure to report child abuse.

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