Texas accuses FLDS mother of switching babies

[sociostudent]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705288340,00.html
By Ben Winslow
Texas child welfare authorities are accusing a 17-year-old girl from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch of switching babies to avoid having to undergo a DNA test.

In a court filing in San Angelo, Texas, made public on Monday, Child Protective Services urges a judge to cancel a Friday hearing over the girl and order her to undergo a psychological evaluation.

The girl, who was 16 at the time she was taken into state custody during the raid on the YFZ Ranch, gave birth to a baby in June. State officials believe the girl was married at age 14. The girl refused to bring her baby to a November court hearing. At a subsequent meeting between CPS and the girl, lawyers for the agency said she brought a child she claimed to be her baby.

"However, genetic testing proved that the child produced was not (the girl's) biological child," CPS attorney John R. Dolezal wrote. "Upon learning of this deception, (CPS) immediately confronted the problem by attempting to set up another meeting at which the Department … could observe (the girl) with her child and genetic testing of the child could be performed."

On the eve of the Jan. 9 meeting, CPS claims the girl's attorneys said she would not be producing the child.
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"Specifically, it appears (the girl) has been separated from her child," Dolezal wrote. "Additionally, petitioner is concerned that (the girl) is being improperly influenced, against her best interest, into making choices not to produce her child and to produce another individual's child. These circumstances cause petitioner to have great concern for the emotional well being of (the girl)."

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said the girl has expressed fear about her baby being taken from her by CPS to the judge and the court.

"It's a clear show of the breakdown of trust between the department and the FLDS," he told the Deseret News on Monday.

The girl is only one of two children still under court oversight in what was once the nation's largest child custody case. Acting on a phone call from someone claiming to be an abused, pregnant teen, CPS and law enforcement raided the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado back in April. The call is now believed to be a hoax, but on site authorities claimed to have found other evidence of abuse that prompted a judge to order the removal of all of the children.

The other girl, a 14-year-old whom CPS alleges was married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, has been ordered returned to foster care after a judge ruled her mother could not protect her from abuse. A custody trial is scheduled for later this year.

"I don't think the department's been concerned about abuse to women and children," Jessop said Monday. "It's what they could do to drive us out of the state."

[sociostudent]

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/mar/03/breaking-news-cps-seeks-psych-evaluation-for-mom/
By Paul A. Anthony (Contact)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Describing a series of alleged deceptions and roadblocks thrown up by a 17-year-old mother, the state's child-welfare agency is asking a Tom Green County judge to order her to undergo psychological evaluation.

The girl, alleged by the state's Child Protective Services agency to have been married to an adult man at age 14, has so obstructed investigators' efforts to assess her parenting skills that the agency worries she may be unable to care for the 8-month-old baby, according to a motion filed last week and released Monday by Tom Green County state district court.

"The department is concerned for the emotional welfare of" the girl, the motion, filed by CPS lead attorney John Dolezal, states. "Specifically, it appears that (the girl) has been separated from her child."

The girl's attorney, Kelly J. Ellis, was unavailable for comment, her office said.

Sect spokesman Willie Jessop said CPS' own actions have made the girl afraid the agency will take the infant from her.

"This girl is mortified at the state," he said. "She's terrified they'll take her baby. There's been a breakdown of trust."

The motion also states that CPS does not intend to seek permanent custody of the girl, one of two whose cases remain open since the April 3 raid of the YFZ Ranch, where the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has made its Texas home.

It's the first time CPS has said publicly it will not ask for custody of the 17-year-old girl, said CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins - bringing to 438 the number of children who have been or are likely to be dropped from the case out of the original 439 removed during the weeklong raid.

State District Judge Barbara Walther will take up the motion at a hearing Thursday, court administrators said.

The girl made headlines in November when she refused to divulge the whereabouts of her infant, even after an order from Walther.

Rather than find the teen in contempt of court, Walther recessed the hearing and ordered attorneys to strike a sealed agreement in which the girl, her mother and attorneys for both were to meet with CPS attorneys and caseworkers and produce the baby for genetic testing.

Instead, the motion states, she produced a baby that testing showed is not hers.

Attempts to meet again were rebuffed, as the girl refused to sign an agreement in which all sides would meet Jan. 9, the motion states, leading CPS to request that she undergo psychological evaluation.

Further attempts to agree on a time and a doctor also were rejected, according to the motion, leading CPS to ask Walther to order the testing be done on Saturday.

"Petitioner is concerned that (the girl) is being improperly influenced, against her best interest, into making choices not to produce her child and to produce another individual's child," the motion states. "These circumstances cause (CPS) to have great concern for (her) emotional well-being."

The girl's child was born in June, shortly after state appellate courts ordered the return of all 439 children taken in April from the YFZ Ranch. CPS has argued it found a "pervasive pattern and practice" of forced underage marriage and sexual abuse there, and that more than 25 percent of pubescent girls removed from the compound were married between ages 12 and 15.

CPS alleges the girl was married at age 14. She turns 18 in August.