Reclassifications weaken polygamist case

Attorneys say Texas authorities have been forced to reclassify as adults a number of girls who were taken from the Yearning For Zion polygamist ranch.

The move is viewed as further weakening the claims of Child Protective Services that dozens of underage girls were forced to have sex with older men on the ranch, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Five judges have been sifting through the cases of the 460 children removed last month from the West Texas ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

My client showed them the same documents they showed them from the beginning: a valid Arizona driver's license and a birth certificate, said attorney Andrea Sloan who represents Leona Allred, 27.

Sloan and other lawyers for the disputed girls charged authorities classified them as children so they could be interviewed without an attorney present.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Publication date: 21 May 2008

Source: UPI-1-20080521-12220400-bc-us-polygamists.xml

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Reclassifications weaken polygamist case

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