http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/mar/13/17-year-old-dropped-from-flds-investigation/
The state's Child Protective Services agency has dropped a 17-year-old mother from its investigation of alleged abuse at the YFZ Ranch, leaving just one child of the 439 initially removed from the polygamous Schleicher County compound.
The nonsuit, filed Thursday, removes from the case a girl who has vexed state and court officials with her refusals to produce her 8-month-old baby, which CPS had sought for genetic testing. The Salt Lake Tribune reported CPS opened a new case in San Antonio, where the girl lives, seeking access to the baby to monitor the girl's parenting skills.
The girl gave birth in June, just days after the return of hundreds of children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. CPS has alleged she was married to an adult man at age 14.
The only child remaining in the case is a 14-year-old girl that sect documents and pictures show having been married to sect leader Warren Jeffs at age 12.
CPS on Thursday filed a request that the girl, who has struggled to adapt to outside life with two foster families since 51st District Judge Barbara Walther gave the agency custody of the girl last summer, be placed with a distant relative, Bandera resident Naomi Carlisle.
Carlisle, 52, is an FLDS member but has never been a resident of the YFZ Ranch, and five of her 11 surviving children have left the sect upon adulthood, according to investigation documents filed Thursday with the agency's request.
No hearing date on the placement has been set, court administrators said today.
Carlisle provided temporary shelter for her brother's children after their removal from the ranch in April until Texas courts ordered their return in June, the documents state.
"Ms. Carlisle has many strengths that make her an appropriate placement" for the girl, wrote Amanda Way, child placing manager for Adoption Priorities Inc., which conducted the background check on Carlisle. "She is of the same cultural and religious background as (the girl) and will be able to foster those needs. However, she is just far enough removed from the controversy of the FLDS case and the various participants in the case that she seems to be a safe placement option."
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sect teen shows up w/ wrong baby
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6290129.html
Excerpt
SAN ANTONIO — Texas child welfare authorities have asked a judge to order a 17-year-old mother from a polygamist sect to submit to a psychological evaluation after she showed up to an appointment with Child Protective Services claiming someone else's child was hers.
The teen had previously refused to disclose the whereabouts of her infant born in June, when she was 16 and shortly after she and the other 437 children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado were returned to their parents from foster care.
The teen produced a baby purported to be her biological child for an appointment with CPS, but DNA tests taken during the appointment revealed she is not the infant's biological mother, said CPS attorney John Dolezal in a court filing on Thursday.
State officials believe the girl was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult, and The Associated Press is withholding her name because it generally does not name possible victims of sex crimes.
"It appears that (the girl) has been separated from her child," Dolezal said in the filing.
The agency is also concerned the girl is "being improperly influenced, against her best interest, into making choices to not produce her child and to produce another individual's child," he wrote.
CPS officials have said they want to ensure the infant is safe and are not seeking custody.
The girl's attorney, Kelly Ellis, is on maternity leave and couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said that while he was unfamiliar with the latest dispute in the case, the girl previously said she feared the agency would try to take the infant if she allowed officials to examine the baby.
"The department has reaffirmed that they're not trustworthy. She was concerned that they would take the baby," Jessop said.
A hearing in the teen's case is scheduled for Friday.
Her case is one of just two remaining cases in what was initially one of the largest custody cases in U.S. history.
Excerpt
SAN ANTONIO — Texas child welfare authorities have asked a judge to order a 17-year-old mother from a polygamist sect to submit to a psychological evaluation after she showed up to an appointment with Child Protective Services claiming someone else's child was hers.
The teen had previously refused to disclose the whereabouts of her infant born in June, when she was 16 and shortly after she and the other 437 children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado were returned to their parents from foster care.
The teen produced a baby purported to be her biological child for an appointment with CPS, but DNA tests taken during the appointment revealed she is not the infant's biological mother, said CPS attorney John Dolezal in a court filing on Thursday.
State officials believe the girl was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult, and The Associated Press is withholding her name because it generally does not name possible victims of sex crimes.
"It appears that (the girl) has been separated from her child," Dolezal said in the filing.
The agency is also concerned the girl is "being improperly influenced, against her best interest, into making choices to not produce her child and to produce another individual's child," he wrote.
CPS officials have said they want to ensure the infant is safe and are not seeking custody.
The girl's attorney, Kelly Ellis, is on maternity leave and couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said that while he was unfamiliar with the latest dispute in the case, the girl previously said she feared the agency would try to take the infant if she allowed officials to examine the baby.
"The department has reaffirmed that they're not trustworthy. She was concerned that they would take the baby," Jessop said.
A hearing in the teen's case is scheduled for Friday.
Her case is one of just two remaining cases in what was initially one of the largest custody cases in U.S. history.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
‘I was 17 and he was 50’
This is a simply incredible story about a woman who left the FLDS with only $20 after being threatened with her life. She now helps others wanting to leave the sect.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/feb/22/i-was-17-and-he-was-50/
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/feb/22/i-was-17-and-he-was-50/
Monday, February 9, 2009
New nonprofit launched to help people from polygamous communities
http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_11640252?source=rss
Excerpt
Tewell is the driving force behind a new nonprofit organization called Holding Out HELP, designed to offer services such as housing, legal assistance and counseling.
The inspiration for the new nonprofit came after Tewell's own experience helping a family.
Tewell volunteered to open her home as a "safe house" through another organization. Twelve months later, she got a call: A woman and her four school-age children, along with her own mother, wanted out of a Salt Lake Valley-based polygamous community. Both women were plural wives.
"My husband and I looked at each other and said, 'Oh boy, are we ready to take the plunge?'" Tewell said.
Tewell admits she had preconceived notions about the people she was about to welcome into her home.
"I didn't expect them to be educated, I expected them to be in full garb with braids, the image we all have of polygamists," she said. "When they arrived, they were some of the sweetest ladies you've ever met. There was nothing weird. They were just like our family."
At that doorstep introduction, Tewell hugged one woman, told her she was safe and "she just burst out bawling."
www.holdingouthelp.org
Excerpt
Tewell is the driving force behind a new nonprofit organization called Holding Out HELP, designed to offer services such as housing, legal assistance and counseling.
The inspiration for the new nonprofit came after Tewell's own experience helping a family.
Tewell volunteered to open her home as a "safe house" through another organization. Twelve months later, she got a call: A woman and her four school-age children, along with her own mother, wanted out of a Salt Lake Valley-based polygamous community. Both women were plural wives.
"My husband and I looked at each other and said, 'Oh boy, are we ready to take the plunge?'" Tewell said.
Tewell admits she had preconceived notions about the people she was about to welcome into her home.
"I didn't expect them to be educated, I expected them to be in full garb with braids, the image we all have of polygamists," she said. "When they arrived, they were some of the sweetest ladies you've ever met. There was nothing weird. They were just like our family."
At that doorstep introduction, Tewell hugged one woman, told her she was safe and "she just burst out bawling."
www.holdingouthelp.org
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Jeffs' daughter dropped from custody dispute
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6244168.html
Excerpt
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Texas child welfare authorities have dropped the custody case involving a 17-year-old daughter of jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, saying court oversight is no longer needed.
Child Protective Services on Monday dropped their custody case on the girl, who was allegedly married to Raymond Merrill Jessop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the day after she turned 15. Jessop, 37, has been indicted on charges of bigamy and sexual assault of a child.
update: after further probing, this article is about Teresa Jeffs.
Excerpt
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Texas child welfare authorities have dropped the custody case involving a 17-year-old daughter of jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, saying court oversight is no longer needed.
Child Protective Services on Monday dropped their custody case on the girl, who was allegedly married to Raymond Merrill Jessop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the day after she turned 15. Jessop, 37, has been indicted on charges of bigamy and sexual assault of a child.
update: after further probing, this article is about Teresa Jeffs.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sect leader's Fifth pleadings to be reviewed
http://gosanangelo.com/news/2009/jan/23/breaking-news-sect-leaders-fifth-pleadings-to-be/
Excerpt
Even after eight hours in a Schleicher County courtroom, the deposition of YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop may not be over.
Attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints elder and his alleged teenage daughter-in-law will argue in court Monday over whether Jessop should be able to plead Fifth Amendment protection to a series of questions regarding the polygamous sect's financial structure.
"There are quite a few (answers) that are in controversy," said Natalie Malonis, the Denton attorney representing a 17-year-old daughter of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. "He answered some of it. I hope that on Monday when we have our hearing, (the judge) will compel answers."
51st District Judge Barbara Walther set the hearing, Malonis said, after compelling testimony in a 30-minute telephone proceeding on some efforts by Jessop to plead the Fifth, which protects witnesses from being forced to give answers under oath that could incriminate them.
The sect's own documents describe the girl as having been married to Jessop's 36-year-old son. Jessop, 72, has been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges of orchestrating an illegal marriage ceremony involving a different underage girl.
Malonis said she has not contested all of Jessop's Fifth Amendment pleadings, but that she asked Walther to compel testimony on questions of the sect's finances.
"He may be the only person who can answer that information," she said.
Excerpt
Even after eight hours in a Schleicher County courtroom, the deposition of YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop may not be over.
Attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints elder and his alleged teenage daughter-in-law will argue in court Monday over whether Jessop should be able to plead Fifth Amendment protection to a series of questions regarding the polygamous sect's financial structure.
"There are quite a few (answers) that are in controversy," said Natalie Malonis, the Denton attorney representing a 17-year-old daughter of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. "He answered some of it. I hope that on Monday when we have our hearing, (the judge) will compel answers."
51st District Judge Barbara Walther set the hearing, Malonis said, after compelling testimony in a 30-minute telephone proceeding on some efforts by Jessop to plead the Fifth, which protects witnesses from being forced to give answers under oath that could incriminate them.
The sect's own documents describe the girl as having been married to Jessop's 36-year-old son. Jessop, 72, has been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges of orchestrating an illegal marriage ceremony involving a different underage girl.
Malonis said she has not contested all of Jessop's Fifth Amendment pleadings, but that she asked Walther to compel testimony on questions of the sect's finances.
"He may be the only person who can answer that information," she said.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Depositions scheduled for FLDS officials
http://gosanangelo.com/news/2009/jan/22/breaking-news-depositions-scheduled-for-flds/
Excerpt
Lawyer Natalie Malonis, the lightning-rod attorney for imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs' now-17-year-old daughter, has subpoenaed:
* Merril Jessop, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints elder believed to have run the ranch since Jeffs was imprisoned
* Willie Jessop, a sect member who has served as its spokesman since a state raid in April
The depositions - scheduled for Friday and Monday - were confirmed by the Tom Green County District Clerk's Office. Copies of the subpoenas and subsequent motions to quash them, rejected Wednesday by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, were not immediately available.
Court documents allege the girl was 15 when Jeffs allowed her to be married to one of Merril Jessop's sons, who was 34 at the time. Jessop and the son, Raymond Jessop, have been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges related to the underage marriage the state alleges was prevalent at the sect's YFZ Ranch.
Willie Jessop, of no close relation to Merril Jessop's family, has been accused by Malonis throughout the case of attempting to intimidate the girl into being uncooperative with Malonis and authorities. Those allegations led to a restraining order being issued against the girl's mother, Annette Jeffs, that ordered her to keep her daughter away from Jessop.
Excerpt
Lawyer Natalie Malonis, the lightning-rod attorney for imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs' now-17-year-old daughter, has subpoenaed:
* Merril Jessop, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints elder believed to have run the ranch since Jeffs was imprisoned
* Willie Jessop, a sect member who has served as its spokesman since a state raid in April
The depositions - scheduled for Friday and Monday - were confirmed by the Tom Green County District Clerk's Office. Copies of the subpoenas and subsequent motions to quash them, rejected Wednesday by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, were not immediately available.
Court documents allege the girl was 15 when Jeffs allowed her to be married to one of Merril Jessop's sons, who was 34 at the time. Jessop and the son, Raymond Jessop, have been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges related to the underage marriage the state alleges was prevalent at the sect's YFZ Ranch.
Willie Jessop, of no close relation to Merril Jessop's family, has been accused by Malonis throughout the case of attempting to intimidate the girl into being uncooperative with Malonis and authorities. Those allegations led to a restraining order being issued against the girl's mother, Annette Jeffs, that ordered her to keep her daughter away from Jessop.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
State still seeks custody of sect's 14-year-old bride
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6197746.html
Excerpts
A fight for the custody of the 14-year-old bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be heating up, according to a document filed in West Texas over the holidays.
The girl is the only child still in foster care who was among the 439 children taken by CPS last spring from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Eldorado.
And the teen could remain in foster care permanently, her parents' rights severed, which could free her up for adoption, if her mother does not assure the agency that she can provide a safe home, one where the girl is not married to another man.
A Texas Child Protective Services progress report on the case, filed Dec. 22, reveals the agency's frustrated attempts to persuade the teen's mother, Barbara Jessop, to cooperate with them by assuring them her daughter would not be involved in other marriages.
The agency indicated it now wants permanent custody of the girl.
State seeks reunited family
"Ms. Jessop has not been able to identify how she will be able to protect (her daughter) from future abuse," the progress report, filed in San Angelo, reads.
-----------------------------------
In previous filings, CPS officials have presented records, including excerpts from Jeffs' journals, that indicate the girl was married to Jeffs when she was 12 years old. Jeffs is the jailed leader of the FLDS, a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy.
Those records indicated that the marriage ceremony was performed by the teen's father, Frederick Merril Jessop, considered Jeffs' second-in-command, and witnessed by the girl's mother, the third of Jessop's six wives.
A status hearing, allowing all parties to meet on the teen's case, is scheduled for Thursday in San Angelo.
Excerpts
A fight for the custody of the 14-year-old bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be heating up, according to a document filed in West Texas over the holidays.
The girl is the only child still in foster care who was among the 439 children taken by CPS last spring from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Eldorado.
And the teen could remain in foster care permanently, her parents' rights severed, which could free her up for adoption, if her mother does not assure the agency that she can provide a safe home, one where the girl is not married to another man.
A Texas Child Protective Services progress report on the case, filed Dec. 22, reveals the agency's frustrated attempts to persuade the teen's mother, Barbara Jessop, to cooperate with them by assuring them her daughter would not be involved in other marriages.
The agency indicated it now wants permanent custody of the girl.
State seeks reunited family
"Ms. Jessop has not been able to identify how she will be able to protect (her daughter) from future abuse," the progress report, filed in San Angelo, reads.
-----------------------------------
In previous filings, CPS officials have presented records, including excerpts from Jeffs' journals, that indicate the girl was married to Jeffs when she was 12 years old. Jeffs is the jailed leader of the FLDS, a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy.
Those records indicated that the marriage ceremony was performed by the teen's father, Frederick Merril Jessop, considered Jeffs' second-in-command, and witnessed by the girl's mother, the third of Jessop's six wives.
A status hearing, allowing all parties to meet on the teen's case, is scheduled for Thursday in San Angelo.
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