It is the biggest child custody case in American history.
On April 3, representative of Texas Child Protective Services forced their way into a ranch for members of the Fundamentalist sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldorado.
A Texas children’s shelter received a call from a 16-year-old girl saying she lived on the ranch. She claimed in the call her 50-year-old husband beat her and sexually assaulted her.
By April 7, CPS had removed more than 400 children from the ranch and took them into state custody. They contended adults sexual abused the children because, among other things, girls were forced into marriages with much older men.
This touched off a massive child custody case as parents went to court to get their children back and the state worked to keep them in custody.
Read a complete timeline of the case.
Watch rare video of the main temple on the FLDS Eldorado ranch.
History of FLDS sect
May 2006: A Bird's Eye View Of Polygamy Camp In Eldorado
