Boys in Compound May Have Suffered Sexual Abuse

AUSTIN, Texas – The chief of Texas Child Protective Services told a legislative panel on Wednesday that at least 41 of the youngsters seized last month from the polygamist camp near San Angelo have suffered broken bones and that evidence gathered by investigators suggests that some of the young boys now in state custody had been victims of sexual abuse.

The revelations from Carey Cockerell, the commissioner of the agency tasked with providing emergency care for endangered youngsters, was presented to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with little or no elaboration because lawmakers had agreed to withhold their questions so as not to jeopardize the investigation into allegations of widespread abuse at the camp.

"This is the largest removal of children in Texas history by Child Protective Services," Cockerell told the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services in his first public appearance since more than 463 children were removed by the state from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado.

The count of children in state custody from the breakaway Mormon sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reached 464 on Tuesday when a teenage girl gave birth in a San Marcos hospital.

Rod Parker, a spokesman for the sect, dismissed Cockerell’s testimony as “a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.”

Parker told The Associated Press that although the ranch has a small medical facility, any broken bones would have been treated away from the ranch. He noted that doctors are required to report suspected abuse. Parker said state officials were “trying to politically inoculate themselves from the consequences of this horrible tragedy.”

Cockerell, who was director of Tarrant County Juvenile Services before 20 years before taking over CPS in January 2005, said that since the state took custody of the children, many of whom had children of their own or were pregnant, officials have encountered difficulty determining their parentage. Court-ordered DNA testing is ongoing to assist in that effort.

But Cockerell told the committee chaired by state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, that both the younger children and those who might be mothers of those children have systematically attempted to mislead investigators and caregivers.

Among the concerns cited by Cockerell were:

_Plastic wrist bracelets issued by the state to help keep track of children’s identities were sometimes tampered with or removed.

_Some women refused to allow children to undergo basic health screening.

_Many teenage girls declined to take pregnancy tests.

_In some cases where children attempted to talk with investigators, women and older children forbade them to speak or coached them on what to say.

According to an update posted Wednesday on the state’s protective services department Web site, all of the children taken from the compound have been placed in residential foster care facilities. Among them are 27 girls in who have told officials they are 14 to 17 years old and 26 others girls who have given conflicting information about their ages, sometimes claiming to be adults and other times claiming to be minors.

Of the 53 girls, at least 30 have children, are pregnant, or both. Six of these girls have two children, and two have three children, according to the update

The report that 41 youngsters had suffered broken bones before entering state custody came from physical examinations and interviews, but officials were reluctant to flatly assert abuse as the cause.

"We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information," the report said. "But it is cause for concern and something we’ll continue to examine."

Allegations that boys had suffered sexual abuse came from "interviews with the children and journal entries found at the ranch," the update said.

Cockerell told the panel that officials were attempting to respect the religious and cultural traditions of the youngsters in custody. He said that minors who have children are not being separated from them. Adult women with infants under 12 months are being allowed to remain with their babies, he said.

Child Protective Services is beefing up its caseworker staff to handle the influx of children from the compound as well as its legal staff to handle the ongoing challenge by the sect for the long-term custody of the children, Cockerell said.

Cockerell, who said he has made on-site inspections of the children while they were housed in an arena in San Angelo, attempted to assure the panel that children have received topflight care while in state custody. Many have since been reassigned to licensed foster care facilities around the state

He said the children have been given ample facilities for recreation, clothing and food that conform with their religious beliefs and access to some educational materials. Cockerell complimented the sensitivity by officials who have been assigned to the case.

"It was interesting to see DPS troopers in uniform playing kickball and pitch with these children," he said.