 |
         
|
The issues in the Texas child custody case concerning the 416 children and teenagers taken from the Yearning for Zion ranch were thrashed out on all three networks. CBS and NBC both filed from the scene, after visiting the mothers of the polygamous sect. CBS' Hari Sreenivasan showed us their pictures of the raid with "heavily-armed police in body armor" arriving to take the children away. He asked: "Is it OK for a young woman who is still a teenager to be married to a man that could be twice her age?" "If that happened she would be very much loved and taken care of." For NBC's In Depth Don Teague was told that "this is not a compound, it is a community" as he was given a guided tour of 20 separate family homes, woodworking and metal shops, a cheese factory, fields with heavy farm equipment, orchards and a schoolhouse.
On ABC from New York, Jim Avila (embargoed link) explained the legal arguments behind the FLDS sect's field trips: "This rogue group of fundamentalist Mormons says the multiple dormitories prove it is not one big household" and therefore abuse of a given child does not constitute evidence that everyone else is in danger. Child welfare authorities argue, on the other hand, that the 600 are "living commune style, in fact one household" so a single underage pregnancy constitutes evidence of a danger of statutory rape for all. "Texas officials do have hurdles," noted Avila, "struggling to document the ages of pregnant girls because there are no records of their birthdays."
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
