For sure dozens of comments full of blame and words of condemnation towards the FLDS will follow, but all I can see here is a family who run a normal life which most likely will never be the same again. Did a call of an unidentified 16 yo girl really justify that?

for how long are we going to be bombarded with FLDS sob stories?

That story almost had me in tears.

Almost.

Still believe in Warren Jeffs eh?

Book'em Dano.

Did this man have only one wife? If so, why were they taken from him? Is the government going to raid every home that may be indoctrinating their families with something people find "odd?"

Of course your religion is unpopular. Civilized society shouldn't tolerate child abuse.

1. The phone call from the 16 year old is probably a prank call.
2. The 16 Year old "Sarah" doesn't exist. I bet if they released the audio of "Sarah's" phone call it would sound like a 45 year-old CPS woman trying to sound youthful.
3. Dale Barlow has never visited the Eldorado compound.
4. Why did the county in Texas haul off the FLDS children in buses belonging to the "First Baptist Church of Eldorado"? Why didn't they use city buses or school buses if this was really a legal issue? And don't say because the buses were being used that day. Every school and city bus system keeps the old buses parked in case the other ones break down or there is an emergency. Obviously there is a conflict of interest with the County officials and their personal religious beliefs.
5. All 400+ children hauled off and their parents have had their constitutional rights violated. A single warrant cannot be used to search every household. That is what the King of England would do to entire American colonial communities prior to the Declaration of Independence.
6. Watch for the FLDS lawsuits once this Texas case unravels.

the refuge of scoundrels

Yeah, well, I'm sure life was tough for the majority of women and children inside the FLDS.

Derrick: they can search the whole compound. They must. You see, the complaint was child abuse and that is a serious matter. The legal side of the house is that authorities, your society and mine, have the right to check out the report.

If they did not check out such reports, then we would be ... like Ghengis Khan? Child abuse is a sick crime and we as society know that. We protect those who cannot protect themselves. We have to check any and all buildings. No choice, unless we want to be played the fool.

What happened to due process? Or innocent until proven guilty. Why havent the accused been charged?What kind of country is this when we allow this to happen?

Time for a gut check america

I guess if a kid calls about being abused we should do nothing. Freedom of Religion does not make you above the law. These kids civil and human rights have been violated by their church and parents. WTG DN for running these sensationalistic type stories. I now know where the mormon church stands on human rights and child abuse issues. No wonder pedophilia seems to run rampant in Utah.

This article does not absolutely say so, but it sure sounds as if this man's children were taken from him BEFORE they were individually questioned about anything.

What precise probable cause did Texas have about this man's particular seven children?

Also, so they still can not identify the 16 year old girl. Hmmm...just how many 16 year old girls are there? Then, just how many 8 month old babies are there in the 416?

Find that baby (yet another person who is supposed to exist by so far no one has produced) and one will be able to find its mother unless she has been killed.

Any blood hounds find anything?

Sounds like the WMD in Iraq - namely, never found and never existed.

The precise probable cause was the numerous pregnant minor children in the communal setting that is the YFZ Ranch.

A pregnant 14, 15, or 16 year old child is prima facie evidence that Sexual Assault has been committed against that child.

A violent felony (i.e. Sexual Assault) committed against one child in a household (or in this case in a communal setting) provides the legal grounds needed to remove every child in that setting, and, if necessary, to bar or restrict contact with the parents who allowed the crime to be committed.

If you don't want this to happen to you, don't abuse children in Texas.

We don't tolerate it or look the other way, as I am sure you are now aware.

Left alone with the photos of Warren Jeffs and friends.
I wonder how old Richard's wife was when they were married. This story conveniently left that out.

FLDS church is not above the law just because they feel they are discriminated against. FLDS have pedophiles abound, brainwashed child brides that are giving birth to babies with severe birth defects (hence the closed community so we can't see this) because they are getting pregnant too young and by men that are related in some way to them. They can't afford to have these massive children, so guess who gets to pick up the tab for this, the American tax payers. Guess who gets to pay to clean up the mess that FLDS caused, us good hard working law abiding tax payers. So why are these pedophiles and child abuser not in jail because of sympathetic publications to their unlawful ways. Please people wake up!

Not quite sure what the DNews is trying to do with these reports...I suppose show both sides of the story but this reads like a sob story from a late night infomercial trying to drum up support for some cause that people have labeled a scam...

I did notice that the ages of the people in the stories were not listed....makes you kind of wonder what the reporters are getting at...oh and what do the WMD's have to do with Texas, ---Human Females and Human Males--- Should we search Syria for the trucks containing child abuse victims that were driven out by the Russians and Iraqis? Nice try to slam the US Military in an unrelated story....

DNews needs to stop running the sob stories and run the stuff about the abuse these women undergo, about the women and children who have escaped, about the boys who are kicked out of these groups, the underage brides, the incest.... This is ridiculous.

How many child brides has Richard had so far?

How many children does he have, and how many of their names and birth dates does he know?

How many of his wives have even a high school diploma or were fully free to get one? What about college?

How many of his kids would get to graduate from high school and go to college?

How many kids has he beaten into submission?

How many of his sons has he put to men's work fulltime at the age of puberty?

How many of his daughters has he given away like animals for breeding stock at puberty?

Guess he is missing nighttime companionship, the cleaning crew, the welfare checks and so on.

Has Richard gone to the state to claim his children, telling them their names, birthdates and mothers' names?

I think not. Richard trying to get us to feel for him when he doesn't even feel for his own family enough to acknowledge them.

Interesting how these FLDS people don't reveal their last names, spouses names, names of children, etc. It's all about them and how they feel, but we can't ask them to be accountable, to be open, to be honest, to be responsible for their families and the mess they put them in.

They are hiding because they are criminals. It is criminal to have sex with minors, to defraud the taxpayers with false statements to get welfare (our hard-earned money we need to care for our own children).

They could be upstanding citizens, working and paying taxes, loyal to one spouse, attending to a reasonable number of children each. But, they support their lifestyle by ripping us off, lying to us, teaching their children to lie, and hiding so as to avoid accountability.

I do feel sorry for them as they are twisted, but I don't for a minute want any of those kids to be sent back to be further imprisoned, brainwashed, raped and groomed to rape.

Hopefully, the young brides will get support on the outside, an education and the opportunity to be full United States citizens with opinions they are free to express with their own voices.

"Boo-hooo-hoooo. The mean old state of Texas is trying to stop us from abusing our daughters." Geez, people! These people brought all this on themselves. Do you really feel sorry for a "father" who worships Warren Jeffs. Go read some of the vile things Jeffs preached. Jeffs and now the new "prophet" have the right to take a family from one man or woman and assign it to another. Girls marry who they are told to marry shortly after puberty. Boys are competition for the old men, so they are kicked out. This bunch is about one thing: Domination and control of women. Nothing else. To even use the term religion in association with these people is a joke. Not one of those kids should ever be sent back to that place.

The reason Eldorado didn't use city buses is because they don't have any. School buses would be small, or very few. Eldorado is a tiny town, that's why buses from the church were used, as well as other buses. Do FLDS people believe they are Christians? If so, why do they fear other Christians? Nothing has been mentioned about the group of women who are sewing a quilt for each child, so they can cover up, snuggle up, or whatever they want to do with it. The women aren't FLDS women, so perhaps the quilts won't be wanted. This whole thing is sad.

===

MAKE A LIST OF FALLACIES!

===

TxBluesMan:

NOTHING printed in any paper indicates that Richard impregnated a just pubescent girl. Nothing at all. In fact, we have nothing that says he individually did any misdeed whatsoever.

Just because he lives next door to, or even in the same house as someone else who is alleged to have committed the crime, HE is not a suspect until some specific evidence is found that is related to HIM, individually, as a single person.

In America, we disallowed legal guilt by association long long ago.

Now, would you like to search for the probable cause that is specifically related to Richard? If you can not find it in a nano-second, regular American justice demands one re-united him with his family.

you people need to leave the flds alone. our god will see them through this and texas will have to come up with some answers.and no child abuse is wrong and i will not support it one bit......

I'm amazing anyone thinks the State's case will "unravel". Fact is, unlike the FLDS, they have an unlimited source of income they don't even have to work for: the taxpayer dollar. The State can keep spending resources and money on this case until they win, no matter the cost. No matter how many real rapes are reported and ignored. No matter how many llegals cross over and blend into society and get on the welfare dole. No matter what other crimes are being committed by others. They want to set presedence, so that they can do this later to whatever group they want. What was illegal is made legal through force and the idea of "well, we did it before, so we can do it again".