Polygamous sect child custody cases on tap

SAN ANGELO, Texas, April 14 (UPI) -- The Texas judge overseeing the investigation into alleged child abuse at a polygamous sect's ranch was to determine how to handle the huge custody case.

Judge Barbara Walther scheduled preliminary hearings Monday in San Angelo and set custody hearings for the hundreds of children taken into custody from YFZ ranch for Thursday, CNN reported.

Walther ordered the seizure of mobile communication devices Sunday after someone used a cell phone to send images of living conditions inside one shelter and to speak with a news reporter, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday. At least one box of mobile devices were seized.

Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the sect's families, said authorities had told the women to give up their cell phones or they would be asked to leave the shelters.

Texas authorities raided the YFZ Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, April 3 after a 16-year-old girl contacted a family violence shelter, saying she was being physically and sexually abused. Authorities removed 416 children and 139 women from the compound in Eldorado.

The 16-year-old girl is believed to be among those removed from the church compound.