253 FLDS children now dropped from YFZ custody battle

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700254513,00.html

Excerpt

In what is now becoming a daily occurrence as the nation's biggest child-custody case moves forward, Texas child welfare authorities have filed to "nonsuit" more children taken in the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.

Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins confirmed 56 more children from the Utah-based polygamous sect were nonsuited in a San Angelo court on Thursday.

"The total number of individuals nonsuited is 253 (including the 26 disputed minors)," Crimmins told the Deseret News.

The decision to nonsuit ends court jurisdiction over the children, but it does not necessarily end CPS oversight. The reasons to nonsuit have ranged from no evidence of abuse to their parents taking adequate steps to protect them. Children also have turned 18 and are aging out of the system.

"The nonsuits are part of the process as we continue to work through the cases. The investigation continues, and those findings we have yet to announce," Crimmins said. "The lawsuits are in a different category. We're nonsuiting those as we work through them."