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Polygamist women speak-out

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Mothers separated from their children as part of a wide-ranging abuse investigation within a polygamist retreat accuse state officials of misleading them before taking their children into custody.

About three dozen of the women who returned to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch spoke out Monday, after 11 days in temporary shelters. They said in interviews that police surrounded them Monday and gave them a choice between returning home, or relocating to a women's shelter.

"It just feels like someone is trying to hurt us," said Paula, 38, who like other members of the sect declined to give her full name. "I do not understand how they can do this when they don't have a for sure knowledge that anyone has abused these children."
pstuart

27 responses // Polygamist women speak-out

  • This is interesting. There is always two side to every story. Even if one side might be a little bit crazy. I would be interested in knowing what the women's full interpretation is of everything that is going on.
    Swiyyah
  • Well no matter what lifestyle you live, Child abuse is wrong in any way shape or form. Though these women are denying it, things can clearly happen without them knowing. I am just concerned that these kids are properly cared for and loved no matter who is doing it. That should be their number one concern as well.
    woodywoodbeck
  • maybe for them is not abuse when a 14 year old girl marries a 50 years old guy, in my opinion it's about education and to really talk to these women (and to listen them)
    realfran
  • don't 14 year old girls marry men 3 times their age all over the world and through out time? have they even found the girl who made the accusations? was it legal for officials to take the children without proper court proceedings? i'm just catching up with this. someone school me the update please!
    pressrecord
  • I remember the claims used to justify the demolition of the Waco compound years ago. All the unsubstantiated claims of child abuse were used to burn the place to the ground, with lots of people inside (including the children we were supposedly saving from child abuse).

    There may be some weird inappropriate things going on here, but this sounds like swift and severe action, and overreaching government.

    Yet another reason why I'm a libertarian.
    brokenladder
  • Myself,being a Muslim,believe in polygamy...but for todays age that is not realistic in almost all cases!!I just want all of these kids to have good homes and to be taken care of.I do not know of any Muslims that have more than one partner.no matter what their religion or if they have one...it is wrong for the kids to be abused in any way or ways!!!i think that we really need to listen to what these women have to say and talk to the men and listen to them to...if any of them will talk.this is just like what happened to me...I was taken from my home without the state even having a reason!If they would have done the research,then they would have saw that what they claimed was not even true!!I believe that this system has become very backwards!
    chicago8491
  • It is agianst the law for a 14 year old to marry, even with the consent of his/her parents. But for a 14 year old to marry a 50 year old it is perverse, disqusting, and to do it in the name of religion is sacreligious and grotesque. These poor women should be listened to, given the option of counseling, and also try living in the "outside" world. A world where they can experience, not what the men have brainwashed them into but, how the rest of the world lives. Child abuse is unexceptable, no amount of ignorance can excuse it.

    --Jade
    addctd2whticnsay
  • Regardless ignorance can't be helped. It'll always going to outlive us, it just a crude cycle.
    AngelicEnforcer
  • Where was their grief at their daughters being sexually and physically abused?
    Vierotchka
  • Many from the FLDS sect do not consider their practice "abuse," but rather, a holy bond of matrimony that leads to a glorious life in the celestial kingdom after death. If that's the case, so be it. But what's WRONG here is that people are raised in the FLDS community with no ability to think freely for themselves, they are forced to accept the practice and otherwise confronted with eternal damnation. That's a scary way to live. Hmm. I think the important question these people need to ask themselves is what's more important for then -- freedom of religion -- OR --basic freedom itself??
    pstuart
  • I read somewhere, a few days ago, that medical examinations of the children showed that some had been beaten so badly they had suffered broken bones. Girls, some as young as 12 and 13, had been expected to have sex with much older men. If that does not show abuse, I don't know what would.
    Vierotchka
  • http://youtube.com/watch?v=HKcO_nRZahI
    This is a little off topic - but it reminds me of the Ricky Rodriguez story. Does anybody remember him? He was the son of a cult leader in which both fathers AND mothers were encouraged to have sex with their sons and daughters.

    As you can imagine, Ricky had a very hard life and his mother was hoping he would become the leader of the cult to carry it on. He acted like he was going along with it... but he was really just waiting for the time to eventually open up where he could get some revenge. His plan was to murder as many of the adult members of the cult as possible before killing himself and is one of the most interesting things I have ever read about. He left his suicide note in the form of video and it can be seen here on youtube.

    For anyone who chooses to watch, there is a lot of explicit language but there is absolutely no violence shown on others or himself.
    LaWingman
  • Well.
    First, I agree with press record on the point that people marry at a variety of ages through out the world.
    And I think it's easy to say that this is something sick and nasty, because I personally would be pissed to be married off at 14. But that's because of the culture I've been raised in.
    But, from a psychological level, part of the evolutionary theory of what attraction is based upon is the fact that men look for young, healthy looking partners [like the young girls] and that girls look for resourceful partners like older established men [like the men marrying the young girls]. So, in a sense, if she is in a loving home and given opportunities to express herself, then maybe it's not so wrong.
    But if the reports are true, that state they were basically formed into the 'perfect' wife, that is forced in a certain sexual mindset - then I think that's wrong.
    At this point though, it seems the only concrete evidence the have though is of getting married underneath legal level -- and at that case, do they really have to separate the mothers and children?
    orchidsofdesire
  • mental, physical, emotional and child abuse, is wrong. The term ''arranged marriage'' which is just a stealthy term for ''Forced marriage'' is wrong, men having sex with under age girls is terribly wrong, I'm noting plenty of wrongs here, so, the people responsible for these crimes need to be thoroughly investigated and punished if necessary. As for the mothers, they are just as responsible for standing by and allowing their children to be abused and should also be penalized. if that means taking custody of their children, well then, let it be.
    Mobius2012
  • Child molestation is an awful awful crime, but I feel that the way the police are handling this situation is not right. It seems to be so many unanswered questions? How can you separate the mothers from their children? How can these children be questioned without at least one of their parents being there. Is that even legal?
    nicolelisht
  • breaking up these families & putting the kids in the foster care system is probably much worse than letting them be raised in a polygamist society...having said that i do also recognize that its pretty gross to force teenage girls to marry & have sex with middle aged men...especially if they're not in a strip club parking lot!)
    blackdaylight
  • they probably shouldnt of spoke out i think it hurt them
    riverdeer
  • they cant let those mothers to have their kids back, im sorry to say i saw the interview and was appalled
    riverdeer
  • It is appalling that the state of Texas took such a long time to act, but not uncommon. Most states child welfare systems are stretched beyond their limits, and unfortunately children suffer. I am just glad that the state has finally acted and taken these children into their care.

    These mothers are reacting just like many other mothers that have their children removed from their care. I spent 3 years working on behalf of abused and neglected children, and have heard every excuse and rationalization in the book by these women. I am sure they were given that choice, not to mislead them, but rather to give them a chance to escape their current situation. Sadly they chose to return to their "ranch".

    The state of Texas has a monumental challenge on their hands to provide representation to all of these children. Their interests need to be represented in court, and a determination must be made as to what is in their best interest. I wish all of the guardians ad litem best of luck in this endeavor.

    If you want more information on the extraorginary work that ordinary people do on behalf of abused and neglected children check out www.nationalcasa.org
    pattik
  • Does Stockholm Syndrome apply to those raised in polygamy?
    StuntBunny
  • That Ricky guy was scary, but I understood him. What happened?
    Neghie
  • I believe that the children should be taken away because the men are abusing little children and the parents are looking the other way.
    Sani
  • I believe that age gaps do not matter. There are twenty-five years between my parents, and they are one of the most amazing couples I've ever known. An old friend of mine married a man in his late fifties when she was just eighteen. If you actually love the person, and it works for you, then there is no reason why you shouldn't be together. However, arranged marriages are of course an entirely different matter, especially when it concerns people who are below the age of consent for marriage. It's true that girls are married off extremely young all over the world, usually in the name of religion, and while for many Westerners this seems wrong, we must remember that it is part of their culture, and that for them it is normal. If there is abuse involved, then of course that is always wrong, no matter the age of the person being abused. I'm not entirely clued up on this whole story, but I believe that this is a very interesting subject.
    amstreater
  • It's true - all over the world, including Europe, young women marry middle aged men. Can't say how young, but it's definitely accepted all over the world. America is probably one of the most prudish about this issue of any of the developed countries.

    Certainly, not all the individual families broken up right now abused their children - that's just too unlikely to believe.

    In Waco - the government burned to death children - I guess they effectively stopped any further child neglect that may or may not have occurred - and any future child neglect in foster homes or elsewhere didn't they.

    We can't stand our government because it panders to corporations at our expense; it's involved us in a war we don't want nor believe in; it's subsidized companies to move out of America with our own tax money; it's neglected it's responsibility to us Americans; allowed illegal immigration to run rampant; it allows predatory lending and banking practices - at our expense; it allows and still gives subsidies to oil companies making record profits; humanity may die as a result of climate change largely ignored by our government; we're being feed genetically altered foods with a range of consequences hidden by our gov; our gov. allows corporations to install soda pop vending machines in elementary schools; the FDA allows food makers to use a food additive which has increased the rate of Autism a 1000% or more and allows food makers to call it by different names to fool consumers; our former attorney general (gonzales) openly lies and misleads us and the Congress; our president and his to advisors openly lies to us; honest people are persecuted such as former CIA agent Plane and her husband for being honest; Libbey gets pardoned for lying to protect Rove or whoever; it just goes on and on - and some of you still think the governments going to make life better for these kids?

    I'm all for protecting the children who actually and truly have been mistreated. I think marrying off a girl at a very young age is wrong, but I think (excluding cases of abuse) the family unit should be kept intact and "rehabilitated" as a unit rather than broken apart. unless that's what they want. What to do with the multiple wives? I don't know, but more than likely it'll just work itself out naturally given the chance,
    VoyagerFilms
  • It's interesting that you don't include the rights of these children in your missive. They have an absolute right to grow up free from abuse and neglect.
    pattik
  • regards to LaWingman's responce......

    Do you honestly believe what you said? I cannot imagine you have a daughter. If you do…. can you honestly say that the thought of a 50 year old man forcing himself on your child, on your innocent 13 year old daughter. “50” “13”….. THAT IS SICK!!!!! Why has this man not been arrested for child molestation? They need to put that sick bastard in prison and let the inmates force themselves on him like he did that child. And maybe you go with him to experience the same thing. I wonder if someone did this to you or your child if you would still have the same thoughts.

    You need to be castrated so you cannot father any children and expose them to this sickness.
    sandie0525

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