The sad tale of the CPS polygamy raid took a fortunate turn today. The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that CPS had no legal authority to abduct 41 children from their parents. Without legal authority this compound raid is nothing more than a massive kidnapping.
How would you expect CPS to react to the court’s ruling that they had no evidence and acted illegaly? If I wrongfully kidnapped your children I would probably apologize- from my jail cell.
Check out the bunker mentality press release from CPS.
The Department of Family and Protective Services removed children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado after finding a pervasive pattern of sexual abuse that puts every child at the ranch at risk…
Actually CPS you did not find a pattern of sexual abuse that put every child at risk. You wanted to believe that and ignored the massive evidence to the contrary. Here is what the court said about your “pattern of abuse”. From the Dallas Morning News
The court said the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.
Five teenage girls being sexually abused is horrible. It is also criminal. Law enforcement should have done an investigation and arrested those responsible. Instead CPS chose to condemn the entire community with a guilt by association/religious profiling approach.
So we know that the pattern of abuse claim is a fabrication. What other justification could CPS have for continuing to hold these children hostage? From CPS
Investigators also observed a pattern of organized deception in those first interviews. Women and children frequently said they could not answer questions about the ages of girls or family relationships. Children were moved from location to location in an apparent attempt to prevent investigators from talking to them. Investigators observed numerous girls who had small children, and girls told us that marriages could occur at any age.
Organized Deception
CPS is so blinded by bureaucratic arrogance that they can not even consider why some parents would not want to speak with them. CPS began with the view that these families were abusers. If these families failed to “cooperate” CPS concluded they must have something to hide. I have blogged before about this guilty until proven innocent approach of CPS.
Freedom Protects You From The Government
If this case had not involved hundreds of children, or gathered national media attention, then the systematic CPS failure may not have been exposed. To prevent future CPS disasters we need to raise the bar for removals and provide more protections for parents. We also need to ban religious profiling, end the “remove first ask questions later” mindset, and quit punishing parents who do not “cooperate” with CPS.
You may not be a polygamist living on a ranch in West Texas. However, if the YFZ children can be removed without cause so can yours. Without legal authority this YFZ raid has turned into the largest kidnapping in state history. Texans need better protection from the good intentions of government, including CPS.