YFZ leaders seek help from Utah as seized document reveals polygamous lifestyle
Thursday, 08 May 2008 00:00
FLDS elder Willie Jessop has asked Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to intervene on behalf of the residents of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas and assist them in securing the return of their children.
The State of Texas removed 464 children from the ranch during a 6-day-long raid prompted by a series of phone calls from a woman who claimed to have been abused at the ranch by her polygamous husband.
FLDS elder and spokesman Willie Jessop told reporters this week that he delivered a letter addressed to President Bush on Saturday, May 10, 2008 and handed it over to White House officials outside Bush’s ranch near Crawford, Texas.
White House officials almost immediately denied the story and noted that access to the Crawford Ranch was severely restricted due to the wedding that day of Bush’s daughter, Jenna.
FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs’ DNA sought in connection with child custody case
SAN ANGELO — Five judges and five courtrooms were pressed into service Monday as the largest child custody case in U.S. history got underway in the Tom Green County Courthouse. Child Protective Service workers, court appointed attorneys, and a parade of FLDS parents — mostly individual mothers — appeared one after another, as the State of Texas got down to deciding the short-term future of 464 children removed from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado during a 6-day-long raid that began April 3, 2008.
Court appointed Special Fiduciary Bruce Wisan has overseen the United Effort Plan trust ever since a Utah judge wrested control of the trust away from FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and his lieutenants in May, 2005.
Wisan has been seeking assets looted from the trust ever since. Now his attorney, Samuel Allen of San Angelo has filed an Abstract of Judgment on behalf of the trust in Schleicher County. Wisan is apparently seeking to lay claim to property at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado.
Jeffs followers at the YFZ Ranch tried diligently for four years to maintain the facade that the ranch was not connected with the FLDS church. The property was owned by a Texas corporation, YFZ Land, L.L.C. and the corporation even paid property tax on the massive white limestone temple built on the property.
However, during the YFZ Raid that began the evening of April 3rd, ranch overseer Merrill Jessop and Warren Jeffs’ brother Isaac Jeffs filed an emergency motion to quash the search warrant that was the basis for the raid. In the motion the men referred to the property’s religious purpose and mentioned the temple as the church’s sanctuary, thereby exposing the ranch to possible liability to the UEP trust.
Photos reveal Warren Jeffs with young brides
Thursday, 29 May 2008 00:00
State courts continue battle over CPS cases
Photos of Warren Jeffs with two allegedly under aged brides were made public this week as the nation’s largest-ever child custody case continued to play out in courtrooms in San Angelo and the Texas Supreme Court in Austin.
Criminal investigation ramps up as children return to YFZ Ranch
Thursday, 05 June 2008 00:00
Elder says FLDS Church renounces underage marriages
More than 450 children removed from the YFZ Ranch in April by Texas Child Protective Services began returning home this week after 51st District Judge Barbara Walther signed an order Monday morning vacating a portion of her earlier ruling giving temporary custody of the children to the state.
FLDS elder Willie Jessop has asked Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to intervene on behalf of the residents of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas and assist them in securing the return of their children.
FLDS elder and spokesman Willie Jessop told reporters this week that he delivered a letter addressed to President Bush on Saturday, May 10, 2008 and handed it over to White House officials outside Bush’s ranch near Crawford, Texas.
Photos of Warren Jeffs with two allegedly under aged brides were made public this week as the nation’s largest-ever child custody case continued to play out in courtrooms in San Angelo and the Texas Supreme Court in Austin.
More than 450 children removed from the YFZ Ranch in April by Texas Child Protective Services began returning home this week after 51st District Judge Barbara Walther signed an order Monday morning vacating a portion of her earlier ruling giving temporary custody of the children to the state.