Whoa, glad I am not working in Eldorado, TX

[Murph]

The FLDS groups fortified compound in Eldorado, Texas has been raided, and lots of women and children removed. Now there is a standoff between law enforcement and Warren Jeffs followers. Our local Childrens Advocacy Center said that an emergency call had been put out of Forensic Interviewers to come and assist in the 416+ interviews that they needed to do on the children taken from the compound. Our local Texas Ranger is out there, along with d*mn near every other Texas Ranger in the State. All I can say, is expect many indictments for Aggravated Sexual Assault on children, and other sexual offenses. Since the County has less than 3,000 people, and the Sheriff's Office is very small, they had to call in deputies from Tom Green County (San Angelo), DPS Troopers, Game Wardens, etc. I spoke with our Ranger today and he told me it was a mess out there.

Some of the children and women have been so conditioned that they know of no other lifestyle. More to come......

[Shane Jennings]

Is there a new standoff this evening? There was a bit of one a couple of days ago, but the latest reports the last couple of days have indicated relative cooperation. They have over 400 women and children that were taken out in buses to San Angelo. Apparently, most of them are staying at Fort Concho.

It's a sad deal with all the apparent abuse of women and kids - especially since most of them have never known any other way of life. Some of them will probably return to the compound when it's all over too. Hopefully those that stay out will get counseling and help in adjusting to a new life.

One of my best friends is a Ranger in Pampa. I wonder if he's down there too.

[d2creative]

Yeah, this has been a hot news item on Good Morning America the last couple of days.
This morning they said that the state now has 401 kids in protective custody.

[Murph]

416 now, and climbing. All our Ranger would tell me, is "unbelievable", when I asked him about the place. A standard Forensic Interview of a child takes between 1-5 hours depending on the child, the level of abuse, and the cooperativeness of the child. I sit in on at least one a week these days. The level of work before the officers, interviewers, CPS investigators is just mind boggling.

[Shane Jennings]

We've had some similar, but much smaller scale, kinds of things going on recently near Abilene. The House of Yahweh out near Clyde is a church/commune type of deal that is either the same as or similar to the Branch Dividian (or is it Davidian?) sect from Waco back then. There are lots of wives and child brides and all of that involved out there too, and there have been a couple of arrests and charges involving the leaders lately. Freaky stuff.

[Steelsun]

My inlaws live in San Angelo (retired military)- said it was crazy there right now - the international press is everywhere.
They packed up their camper today and headed to the Davis mountains for a vacation for awhile.

[my3peas]

I hope they find a way to take care of this. I grew up near a major polygamist compound and one lived around the street from us. I've seen this all my life, but it never ceases to amaze me what level of sickness these men have. I hope the women and children can adjust to outside living. I know they'll want to go home, because that's all they know. Just heartbreaking.

[Summer Ball]

I work in law enforcement, and my "contact" out there is telling me that they will be starting DNA testing, to help bolster their case of sexual abuse. As most of you know, if you are under 17, you can't consent to anything sexual.

[OTRphoto]

My sister works with CPS and has been out there processing the women and kids since Friday night. Her group is working on making sure they get them all in the system and get the initial medical and psych appointments set up and in the system.

I don't know too much other than whats in the news. Due to the critical nature of her end of all the mess, she and her group have been sequestered in a hotel room since friday night.

[lucian]

We live a few blocks from the collesium. We passed it twice today. All quiet there.

We deliberately did not go downtown near the fort or courthouse for fear of experiencing a bee hive of activity.

We've been getting most of our info from TV news. My condolences to any of the folks having to work this. I imagine it is a nightmare and a heartbreaker.