Bob Ray Sanders 
Fort Concho offers refuge for polygamist sect's children
An old bastion of refuge in a new tale of the West
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
The scene was dramatic and uncanny, to say the least: women and young girls, dressed in 19th-century-style clothing, being escorted into an historic West Texas fort -- presumably for their protection.
But this was no period movie, no re-enactment of some historic event in the Old West.
It was now. It was real. It was surreal.
"Established in 1867, along the banks of the Concho River, Fort Concho was built to protect frontier settlements, patrol and map the vast West Texas region and quell hostile threats in the area," says the opening paragraph of the national historic landmark's Web page.
The 500-plus women and children who crowded onto the fort's grounds had arrived from what could be described as a frontier settlement, but one built only four years ago. And from what court documents allege, many of them faced hostile threats -- not from raiding Indians but from "family" members and their church leaders.
Fort Concho, once home to cavalry troops that included the Buffalo Soldiers but closed as an active military facility since 1889, had once again become a protector and a refuge for those who ended up there last week after a raid on a religious compound.
Of course, for some -- those who might resent having been taken from their homes on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' 1,691-acre ranch near Eldorado -- the fort might be seen as a prison.
That's part of the problem facing Texas law enforcement and agencies such as Child Protective Services.
Who were willing participants in the strange rituals of the polygamist FLDS sect, and who were victims of evil men who used religion for their own sexual obsessions and the abuse of children?
Many of the young girls removed from the ranch were mothers and/or pregnant and, according to affidavits, had been forced to "spiritually marry" older men and immediately submit to them sexually. Authorities even found beds in the vast white temple, and records showed that one man at the encampment had 20 wives living with him.
I've seen my share of cults and religious orders, and even some mainstream organizations, in which men use their power and twisted biblical interpretations to coerce women and children into sex. This is not a new phenomenon by any means.
And always we in society have to wrestle with the question of when the state has a right and a duty to intervene in "church" matters. In the case of adults, that's a harder puzzle because we have to decide whether people gave their consent or were forced (or beguiled) by a pontificating snake in ministerial clothing.
But in the case of children forced into sex at the age of 14 and 15, the state unquestionably has every right to intercede on their behalf and should do everything in its power to protect them.
From the time the FLDS sect moved to Texas, there were suspicions that weird and possibly illegal things were going on, but local authorities prudently waited until there was true probable cause before moving in and searching the facility.
When officials got a 911 call from someone who identified herself as a fearful, pregnant 16-year-old, they had reason enough to enter the property and to seize the children.
The group had been industrious -- building large living quarters and a sanctuary -- and becoming one of the biggest and most faithful taxpaying entities in the small county of Schleicher. But working hard and paying taxes do not necessarily make one a good citizen, or a good person -- certainly not if children are being harmed.
We can only guess how severely the youngsters, sexually abused or not, have been injured. Many know no life other than their peculiar upbringing and have been taught to fear the "outside world."
Who knows what level of sheer brainwashing may have occurred?
As CPS navigates these hundreds of cases, in some instances trying to determine the children's true identities as well as the level of injury they may have incurred, we should have a new appreciation for the state agency that often receives more blame than praise.
Among other things, the agency will have to determine whether children should be permanently removed from their parents. If so, where do they go?
Local, state and federal authorities also must decide who among the 50 or so men remaining on the property might have committed crimes and what charges, if any, should be brought.
I have no sympathy for the religious "leaders" and could never condone or forgive what at least some of them seem to have done in the name of God.
If this were a movie, we could at least look forward to The End.
Sadly, for the 416 children involved in this depressing tale, the end is nowhere in sight.
Bob Ray Sanders' column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. 817-390-7775
