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Dr. Jai Maharaj
Guest
Conflict escalates at polygamist retreat
By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Eldorado, Texas - Law enforcement manned a roadblock miles
from a polygamist temple where sect leaders refused to let
authorities enter to search for a teenager whose report of
abuse initiated a raid on the West Texas compound.
Authorities provided no details early Sunday about the
standoff.
Allison Palmer, a prosecutor in Tom Green County, told the
San Angelo Standard-Times that medical workers were sent to
the compound "in case this were to a go in a way that no
one wants." She had said authorities will forcibly remove
the sect's followers "as peaceably as possible" if no
agreement could be reached.
A stream of ambulances and law-enforcement vehicles left
the compound late Saturday.
A bus that appeared to be filled with women was parked
early Sunday at a civic center south of town, where a
lawyer and law-enforcement officials were talking with
them.
Authorities are searching for a 16-year-old mother whose
report of alleged abuse led to a search of the secretive
religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
"Things have been a little tense, a little volatile,"
Palmer said Saturday.
Palmer could not be reached for comment early Sunday. Other
authorities, citing a gag order, continued to decline to
comment.
State welfare officials have removed nearly 200 women and
children from the compound, operated by the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"They seem to be doing fine," Marleigh Meisner, a
spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, told The
Associated Press.
Troopers armed with a search warrant raided the compound on
Friday to look for evidence of a marriage between the girl
and 50-year-old Dale Barlow.
The girl had a baby eight months ago, when she was 15,
according to court documents. Under Texas law, girls
younger than 16 cannot marry, even with parental approval.
Barlow's probation officer told The Salt Lake Tribune that
he was in Arizona.
"He said the authorities had called him (in Colorado City,
Ariz.) and some girl had accused him of assaulting her and
he didn't even know who she was," said Bill Loader, a
probation officer in Arizona.
Barlow was sentenced to jail time last year after pleading
no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a
minor. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender
for three years while he is on probation.
His lawyer in that case, Bruce Griffen, said he had not
spoken to Barlow in a year.
The search warrant instructed officers to look for marriage
records or other evidence linking her to the man and the
baby. The warrant authorized the seizure of computer
drives, CDs, DVDs or photos.
Those inside the retreat did not respond to requests for
comment.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints broke away from the Mormon church after the latter
disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.
The compound sits down a narrow paved road and behind a
hill that shields it almost entirely from view in town.
Only the 80-foot-high, gleaming white temple can be seen on
the horizon.
The 1,700-acre property had been an exotic game ranch. It
is surrounded by dusty, wind-swept land where sheep are
raised and mohair produced.
Eldorado (pronounced el-dor-AY'-do) is a two-stoplight town
of fewer than 2,000 people and located nearly 200 miles
northwest of San Antonio. It consists of a cluster of
government buildings, a couple churches and a few blocks of
houses.
State officials said they did not know how many people
lived at the retreat. Local officials estimated two years
ago that about 150 people were there.
The sect has been led by Warren Jeffs since his father died
in 2002. In November, Jeffs was sentenced to two
consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in
Utah for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old
girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in 2001.
In Arizona, Jeffs is charged as an accomplice with four
counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor
stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls
and their older male relatives. He is jailed in Kingman,
Ariz., awaiting trial.
More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
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subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Eldorado, Texas - Law enforcement manned a roadblock miles
from a polygamist temple where sect leaders refused to let
authorities enter to search for a teenager whose report of
abuse initiated a raid on the West Texas compound.
Authorities provided no details early Sunday about the
standoff.
Allison Palmer, a prosecutor in Tom Green County, told the
San Angelo Standard-Times that medical workers were sent to
the compound "in case this were to a go in a way that no
one wants." She had said authorities will forcibly remove
the sect's followers "as peaceably as possible" if no
agreement could be reached.
A stream of ambulances and law-enforcement vehicles left
the compound late Saturday.
A bus that appeared to be filled with women was parked
early Sunday at a civic center south of town, where a
lawyer and law-enforcement officials were talking with
them.
Authorities are searching for a 16-year-old mother whose
report of alleged abuse led to a search of the secretive
religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
"Things have been a little tense, a little volatile,"
Palmer said Saturday.
Palmer could not be reached for comment early Sunday. Other
authorities, citing a gag order, continued to decline to
comment.
State welfare officials have removed nearly 200 women and
children from the compound, operated by the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"They seem to be doing fine," Marleigh Meisner, a
spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, told The
Associated Press.
Troopers armed with a search warrant raided the compound on
Friday to look for evidence of a marriage between the girl
and 50-year-old Dale Barlow.
The girl had a baby eight months ago, when she was 15,
according to court documents. Under Texas law, girls
younger than 16 cannot marry, even with parental approval.
Barlow's probation officer told The Salt Lake Tribune that
he was in Arizona.
"He said the authorities had called him (in Colorado City,
Ariz.) and some girl had accused him of assaulting her and
he didn't even know who she was," said Bill Loader, a
probation officer in Arizona.
Barlow was sentenced to jail time last year after pleading
no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a
minor. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender
for three years while he is on probation.
His lawyer in that case, Bruce Griffen, said he had not
spoken to Barlow in a year.
The search warrant instructed officers to look for marriage
records or other evidence linking her to the man and the
baby. The warrant authorized the seizure of computer
drives, CDs, DVDs or photos.
Those inside the retreat did not respond to requests for
comment.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints broke away from the Mormon church after the latter
disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.
The compound sits down a narrow paved road and behind a
hill that shields it almost entirely from view in town.
Only the 80-foot-high, gleaming white temple can be seen on
the horizon.
The 1,700-acre property had been an exotic game ranch. It
is surrounded by dusty, wind-swept land where sheep are
raised and mohair produced.
Eldorado (pronounced el-dor-AY'-do) is a two-stoplight town
of fewer than 2,000 people and located nearly 200 miles
northwest of San Antonio. It consists of a cluster of
government buildings, a couple churches and a few blocks of
houses.
State officials said they did not know how many people
lived at the retreat. Local officials estimated two years
ago that about 150 people were there.
The sect has been led by Warren Jeffs since his father died
in 2002. In November, Jeffs was sentenced to two
consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in
Utah for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old
girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in 2001.
In Arizona, Jeffs is charged as an accomplice with four
counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor
stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls
and their older male relatives. He is jailed in Kingman,
Ariz., awaiting trial.
More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.