DNA taken from polygamist sect baby

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6154234.html

SAN ANTONIO — Investigators from the Texas Attorney General's Office on Monday took DNA samples from a baby born to a member of a polygamist sect months after a high-profile raid, thwarting efforts by the mother to prevent the sample from being collected.

Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, confirmed late Monday that investigators executed a search warrant and gathered a DNA swab. The office is handling the prosecution of some members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints accused of charges including bigamy and sexual assault of a child.

Child welfare authorities previously tried to examine and collect a sample from the baby born June 14, saying they wanted to establish paternity, but the baby's 17-year-old mother refused to disclose the child's whereabouts. A stand-off in court in San Angelo on Nov. 25 led to an undisclosed agreement between the two sides.

But the search warrant, obtained in criminal court, forced the issue.

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said authorities went to an FLDS home in the San Antonio area, where some of the families have moved since the April raid on their West Texas ranch, and collected DNA from the baby girl.

He had said previously the teen mother, who was in foster care late in her pregnancy, was afraid authorities would take the newborn if she allowed them to examine the baby.

Child Protective Services said in court filings investigators believe the girl was married to a man in FLDS when she was 14.

In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult, and The Associated Press does not name possible victims of a sex crime.