Officials: 31 of 53 girls from sect ranch have been pregnant

[leobold1]

Officials: 31 of 53 girls from sect ranch have been pregnant

Apr 28 03:45 PM US/Eastern
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Texas child welfare officials say more than half the teen girls swept into state custody from a polygamist sect's ranch have been pregnant.

Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar says 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were living on the ranch in Eldorado. Of that group, 31 already have children or are pregnant.

State officials took custody of all 463 children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch more than three weeks ago after a raid prompted by calls to a domestic violence hotline.

Child welfare officials say there was a pattern of underage girls forced into "spiritual marriages" with much older men at the ranch.

[Snowden]

Child welfare officials say there was a pattern of underage girls forced into "spiritual marriages" with much older men at the ranch.

A "spiritual" marriage? "Spiritual" won't get a girl pregnant.

Somehow, I think those were not as much spiritual as physical. Young girls who are feeling sexy anyway, or not -- and older men who should be shot for what they're doing to them.

[Woodmonkey]

I heard about this. I really think they talk about spiritual marriages so they can get around the polygamy laws. They're not really marriages so the guys can't be prosecuted, right? The girls are all under 18 and I'm waiting for some men to be charged with rape - all kinds because some of those girls might not have been brainwashed enough to be "willing."

[leobold1]

Basically, they're church marriage services, without the marriage certificate. So, by law, they're not legal, but recognized by the church, or at least the church that performs the ceremony.

[Snowden]

Somehow that makes it even more evil. And I have to think as Katie does that some of those kids were really not all that convinced and willing.