Authorities Trace Call About Polygamy Sect
Foster Care Placement Begins For Children
Posted: 2:52 pm EDT April 23, 2008Updated: 3:59 pm EDT April 23, 2008
While Texas authorities have finished taking DNA samples from all the children removed from a polygamist compound more than two weeks ago, court documents show one phone number used to report alleged abuse at the compound had been used previously by a 33-year-old Colorado woman.
It's not yet clear whether authorities suspect Rozita Swinton, of Colorado Springs, Colo., made any of the calls that triggered this month's raid of the compound.An affidavit made public Wednesday said a phone number Swinton had used previously was used for a call to a Texas crisis center before authorities conducted the raid and removed more than 400 children. Swinton's whereabouts are unknown.Authorities said a 16-year-old girl called a crisis center claiming she was abused at the compound. Authorities have not found that girl.Meanwhile, in Texas, roughly 500 DNA samples were taken at the coliseum in San Angelo, where the children are being housed. The state has begun the process of placing about 100 of the children in foster care.The Texas attorney general's office sent 10 technicians Monday to begin taking samples ordered by the court as child welfare officials try to sort out the complicated family relationships at the compound.The state attorney general's office declined to say when the other children might be moved, but a half dozen buses arrived at the coliseum on Wednesday morning.Some of the adults have been ordered by the state to submit to testing, while others are being asked to do so voluntarily.One of the attorneys for the sect worries that authorities have another motive for taking DNA samples from adult church members, fearing they could also be used to prosecute adult church members for abuse.Rod Parker, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said he wondered whether authorities secretly intend to use the DNA to build criminal cases.A spokesman for Texas Child Protective Services denied that's the objective.Authorities said they believe the sect forces underage girls into marriages with older men.Authorities said they need to figure out the complicated family relationships before they begin custody hearings to determine which children may have been abused and need to be permanently removed from the sect compound.For now, no charges have been filed.
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Previous Stories:
- April 22, 2008: Children Of Polygamists Move To Foster Care
- April 21, 2008: Hundreds Of Sect Children Getting DNA Tests
- April 18, 2008: Polygamist-Sect Kids To Remain In Custody
- April 17, 2008: Polygamist Hearing Points To Moms At Age 13
- April 15, 2008: Polygamy Case Poses 'Logistical Nightmare'
- April 14, 2008: Children Seized At Ranch Head To New Shelter
- April 12, 2008: Polygamist Sect Kids Face Uncertain Future
- April 10, 2008: Special Master To Review Polygamist Papers
- April 9, 2008: Polygamist Temple Reportedly Used For Sex
- April 7, 2008: 401 Children Taken In Polygamist Ranch Raid
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.










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