For anyone following the ongoing drama here in Texas where Texas children’s services raided the compound of a reclusive poligamist sect…
The original raid was preciitated by a series of phone calls to a Texas child abuse helpline, obstensibly by a 16 year old forcibly married to a 40 year old man within the compound. The raid led to the removal of over 400 children from the compund, and the legal saga of those children continues.
What is of intrest to this forum, however, is the original phone calls, and the 16 year old girl. For the first couple of weeks after the raid the continuing reports all mentioned that the authorities had still not located the girl who made the original calls, despite the removal of all the children from the compound. There were vague hints of concern that something might have happened to her, but authorities were really not saying much.
Now, over the last couple of days, it is coming out as being more and more likly that the girl never existed. The calls appear to have been placed by an adult woman obsessed with the sect and seeking to cause trouble for the sect.
Details: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA041908.01A.falsereports.388a5f6.html and http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA042208.01A.polygamists.390d67c.html
As for my personal opinions, I think what the sect does is pretty disgusting, but I still find it very disturbing that so much trouble can be caused by a series of hoax phone calls.
