Canadianreader
04-22-2008, 10:11 PM
Built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the sect came to West Texas in 2003 and includes about 1,000 followers in Bountiful. A Texas court heard Friday during the custody hearings that Canadians were among the youth seized by welfare workers from the Yearning for Zion Ranch, near the town of Eldorado.
Debbie Palmer, a former member of the polygamist sect in Bountiful, B.C
"We know there are at least six adult females in that community who have come from Bountiful," said Palmer, from Prince Albert, Sask.
Blackmore, the mother of four of the children, is her step-granddaughter.
"Any parent should be concerned about every child, whether they are Canadian or not," Blackmore said during a rare interview with the Canadian Press."A lot of those people are our relatives and our friends and I'm concerned about them. I'm sure sorry that [the raid] happened."
A Phoenix reporter covering the case,
it's been alleged children within the sect have traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Bountiful. “It's long been suspected that when media or the law enforcement officers start looking for a child [who] may be in distress, that they are often spirited across the border to Canada and vice versa,"
Child welfare officials claimed that the children seized in Eldorado were abused or in imminent danger of abuse because the sect encourages girls younger than 18 to marry and have children. Experts have told the court that many of the women in the sect had children when they were minors, some as young as 13
Debbie Palmer, a former member of the polygamist sect in Bountiful, B.C
"We know there are at least six adult females in that community who have come from Bountiful," said Palmer, from Prince Albert, Sask.
Blackmore, the mother of four of the children, is her step-granddaughter.
"Any parent should be concerned about every child, whether they are Canadian or not," Blackmore said during a rare interview with the Canadian Press."A lot of those people are our relatives and our friends and I'm concerned about them. I'm sure sorry that [the raid] happened."
A Phoenix reporter covering the case,
it's been alleged children within the sect have traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Bountiful. “It's long been suspected that when media or the law enforcement officers start looking for a child [who] may be in distress, that they are often spirited across the border to Canada and vice versa,"
Child welfare officials claimed that the children seized in Eldorado were abused or in imminent danger of abuse because the sect encourages girls younger than 18 to marry and have children. Experts have told the court that many of the women in the sect had children when they were minors, some as young as 13