Court Documents: Teen in Polygamist Compound Had Called Family Violence Shelter

ELDORADO, Texas _ The teenage girl at the center of a massive investigation into a West Texas polygamist compound called a family violence shelter several times in the days before authorities swept the religious ranch, saying she had been forced into marriage with an older man, fathered his child and was pregnant again, according to court affidavits released Tuesday.

That girl, 16, has still not been accounted for among the more than 400 children removed from the compound this week, though authorities say she may be among them. Her phone calls are what brought investigators onto the religious retreat, the records indicate, where they found many other young pregnant women and asked a judge for permission to remove children.

Texas Child Protective Services officials said Tuesday afternoon they have now removed 416 children from the ranch, joined by 139 adult women.

“The information we have received from law enforcement indicates that all of the children have been safely removed from the ranch,” said CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner.

According to the records, the girl called the shelter several times on March 29, saying she had been moved to the YFZ Ranch by her parents three years ago. She said she was forced to marry a 49-year-old man a year ago, and that she was his seventh wife. She had his baby shortly after, and reported being pregnant again.

The young woman alleged serious physical violence at the hands of her husband, identified as Dale Barlow. She said he hit her in the chest and choked her, and that other women in the home held her infant while he beat her. She also alleged Barlow forced himself on her sexually. The teenager, who spoke in hushed tones, said she was not allowed to leave the ranch, and that she was calling using someone else’s cell phone.

In a phone call to the shelter a day later, she told an investigator that church members were holding her against her will, and that they’d told her if she left the ranch outsiders would “hurt her, force her to cut her hair, to wear make up and clothes and to have sex with lots of men.” She said her parents were preparing to send her 15-year-old sister to the compound as well.

“At the conclusion of the conversation, she began crying and then stated that she is happy and fine and does not want to get into trouble,” the court records read, “and that everything she had previously said should be forgotten.”

In a separate filing, state officials said children at the ranch have been deprived of nutrition as punishment, as well as being forced to sit in closets. On at least one occasion investigators have been able to see children through windows of houses, but have been denied access to them.

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