ELDORADO, Texas (ABC 4 News) - Buses from nearby Eldorado, Texas were pressed into service Friday to remove 167 children from the polygamist YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch. According to the local newspaper, The Eldorado Success, 96 boys and 71 girls spent Friday night at the small town’s civic center. As Child Welfare workers scrambled to find foster homes, the community donated cots and bedding, clothing and meals for the children. The children range in age from 17 years to 6 months.A judge placed 18 girls in immediate custody of Texas Child Protective Services and the rest of the children are still being interviewed – the first question to be answered by investigators is who are their parents and do they even live at the compound. That could take most of the weekend. A hearing on the children’s status is scheduled for Monday before Texas District Judge Barbara Walther.More details of the siege of the sprawling FLDS ranch are coming out. There was first a standoff at the gate and then at the FLDS temple. Sheriff Gary Painter of neighboring Midland County was asked to break both standoffs with his SWAT and an armored vehicle. “They had the temple surrounded with their vehicles,” the sheriff explained. “We rolled the armored personnel carrier up and asked to be admitted and they complied." Other accounts say the sheriff put the options more bluntly: “Either make way so we can search or risking being run over.” Despite such confrontations, the sheriff reported no violence. “There was resistance. But that’s okay. Resistance we can handle.” Along with the search warrant, Texas lawmen carried with them an arrest warrant. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety declined to say who is named in that warrant, but as of Friday evening, no one had been arrested. Many of the children and pregnant teens have already been placed in foster care, and more will probably be placed with foster families after being processed and interviewed by Texas child protective service workers.
Although there were no reports of any violence or injuries, FLDS members have been known to keep weapons with them, and have vowed in the past to defend themselves.
The FLDS compound near El Dorado is the largest gathering of Jeff's followers outside of the Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah area. The compound has grown into a small, fenced-in town, complete with utility services. There is a large white FLDS temple at the center of the enclave.
Warren Jeffs is in Arizona awaiting trial. He was convicted of rape as an accomplice in Utah last year.
