Related stories: Texas judge orders return of polygamists’ children, Texas cops peacefully enter polygamist temple
By Matt Phinney
The San Angelo Standard-Times
EL DORADO, Texas — Pictures of Warren Jeffs kissing an underage girl are a small glimpse of evidence that will come to light in the ongoing investigation of alleged abuse at the polygamist sect’s YFZ Ranch, in which criminal charges are likely to be issued, the Schleicher County sheriff said.
David Doran said he wants to balance what he feels has been a propaganda campaign undertaken by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints against the Child Protective Services and state law enforcement agencies.
The ordinarily secretive group has opened the gates of its 1,700-acre ranch near Eldorado several times for reporters since the weeklong state raid begun April 3.
Doran said the sheriff’s office, which typically accompanies CPS on any investigation, provided “support and logistics” for CPS and the Texas Rangers during the raid that took more than 400 children from the ranch.
His office, he said, is not part of the ongoing criminal investigation.
He said Tuesday he expects indictments to be handed down as a result of the investigation, which is being led by the Texas Attorney General’s Office. He said he wants the people of Eldorado and the Concho Valley to know what’s going on.
“They have a really strong propaganda campaign to sway public opinion,” Doran said. “It’s obvious that’s what they have done. A lot of the information they put out is not 100 percent accurate. It’s unfortunate that they are doing that.”
Specifically, Doran - who was at the ranch during the raid - disputes ranch spokesman Willie Jessop’s claims that:
- Children were ripped from their mothers’ arms
- The raid on the ranch was chaotic
- Law enforcement members were hostile to the ranch residents.
Doran describes the days as tense, but calm, and said all the ranch residents were treated with dignity and respect.
He said the days went smoothly, and he cringes at any comparison to Waco. That’s where federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in an armed standoff that ended on April 19, 1993, with the compound burning to the ground. At the end of that day, 76 Branch Davidians, including 21 children, were dead.
“I’m proud to say this operation was pulled off without incident,” Doran said. “Not one person was hurt, not one gun was fired and not one child was ripped from their mother’s arm.”
He reiterated previous law enforcement statements that ranch members were increasingly uncooperative during the raid and moved some children around as CPS tried to investigate claims of abuse. He also said all CPS and law enforcement were sensitive to the group’s religious beliefs.
Two beds found on the fourth floor of the sect’s temple continue to be “an important scope” of the investigation, Doran said.
The children are safer now, Doran said, because stipulations in Judge Barbara Walther’s order vacating state custody allow CPS to interview the children and give the parents classes on parenting, among other things.
Walther and some others are taking heavy criticism from people who do not know the whole story, Doran said.
“Based on their current lifestyle, not their religion, just their practices, it’s not conducive to state law,” Doran said.
Results of DNA testing last month have begun to be released to investigators.
“DNA is fantastic evidence in criminal cases,” said First Assistant 51st District Attorney Allison Palmer. “I don’t blame the sheriff for anything he said, but I don’t have anything to add.”
Doran said there is an open line of communication between the sheriff’s office and the ranch, but that it’s not as strong as it was before the raid.
Jessop, who didn’t live on the ranch, said Tuesday that it’s hard to mend fences when trust has been broken.
“Hopefully, someone with cooler heads will step in and give the opportunity to hear two sides of the story,” Jessop said regarding the possibility of indictments.
Doran, who is up for re-election in the fall, said Eldorado is concerned about sect plans to conduct mass voting registration among the ranch residents.
He also said Eldorado rallied around the women and children from the ranch in the days immediately following the raid.
Copyright 2008 The San Angelo Standard Times