Hearing in Texas for children from polygamist compound halted

A Texas judge stopped a hearing to decide the fates of hundreds of children seized from a polygamist compound shortly after it began today, as hundreds of lawyers demanded to study the first piece of evidence before it could be introduced.

State District Judge Barbara Walther called a recess to allow the 350 lawyers representing the children to spread out in two buildings to read the evidence and decide whether to object en masse or make individual objections.

Hundreds of attorneys from across the Lone Star State spilled into the tiny West Texas courtroom to determine the fates of 416 children in what could be the largest child custody case in U.S. history.

Over the last few recent days, local officials in this small town have scrambled to find attorneys to represent the 416 children, who state investigators say were sexually abused or at risk of sexual abuse at the Yearning for Zion Ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Representing the best interests of these children is a daunting task: Many will not reveal their ages, their names or their parents, officials say; all they want, some mothers say, is to return to their home.

“This is probably the biggest child custody action that’s ever taken place in the United States, and it’s also one of the most complex,” said Peter N. Swisher, a professor at the National Center for Family Law at the University of Richmond. “Any evidence of child abuse has to be investigated as a matter of state law … And it has to be conducted on an individual basis because the facts are going to differ from child to family.”

Nearly two weeks ago, 51st District Judge Walther signed an emergency order to give the state temporary custody of the children after a 16-year-old mother called a domestic violence hotline claiming she had been beaten by her “spiritual husband.”

Police officials carrying automatic weapons forced their way into the site in the remote West Texas town of Eldorado. They did not identify the girl but claim to have found a number of pregnant teenagers, evidence that men were marrying girls at puberty, and beds used for sex acts inside the compound’s soaring white temple.

Attorneys for the church have denied the children were abused and argued that the state is persecuting church members for their religious beliefs.

Today’s hearing, the first major court hearing in the case, is expected to determine whether the children, who range in age from 6 months to 17 years, will temporarily remain in state custody or return to the families.

jenny.jarvie@latimes.com