Texas authorities have so far removed more than 400 children from a polygamist compound and sent them to state custody, media reported Tuesday.
"This is the largest endeavor we've ever been involved in the state of Texas," said Marleigh Meisner, spokesman of Children's Protective Services.
Women were found dressed in home-sewn, ankle-length dresses with their hair pinned up in braids, and girls in pioneer dresses when police raid the 1,700-acre property, which includes a medical facility, a cheese-making plant, a cement plant, a school, numerous large housing units and a white limestone temple.
The women were not allowed to wear red -- the color jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs said belonged to Jesus -- and were not allowed to cut their hair. They were also kept isolated from the outside world.
"Once you go into the compound, you don't ever leave it," said Carolyn Jessop, 40, one of the wives of the alleged leader.
They "were born into this," said Jessop, "Their mothers were born into and have no concept of mainstream culture. Their grandmothers were born into it."
Meisner said each child will get an advocate and an attorney but predicted that if they end up permanently separated from their families, the sheltered children would have a tough acclimation to modern life.
Police have arrested one person as they continue searching the rural compound that houses followers of Jeffs.
The raid was sparked by a 16-year-old girl's call to authorities that she was abused. She also said that girls as young as 14 and 15 were forced into marriages with much older men. The location of the girl is still underway.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article