State appeals ruling on polygamist raid

AUSTIN, Texas, May 23 (UPI) -- Texas officials asked the state Supreme Court for an emergency stay to prevent the immediate return of hundreds of children seized from a polygamist sect.

The state Department of Family and Protective Services said that a court hearing before Judge Barbara Walther established that forcing underage girls into sexual relationships with older men was "an institutional practice" at the Yearning For Zion Ranch, the San Antonio Express-News reported Friday. The agency said that the practice "was supported by the alleged mothers."

A state appeals court ruled Thursday that Walther exceeded her authority when she allowed the state to put more than 400 children from the ranch into foster care. The ranch is owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, a breakaway Mormon group. The appeals panel ruled for a group of mothers challenging the seizure and seeking return of their children.

"This would subject the children to continuing sexual and emotional abuse," state lawyers said.

The appeals court said that the state had not shown that any children were in immediate physical danger and that no boys or prepubescent girls at the ranch appeared to be at risk.