The Texas Raid

1. Was it justified?
2. Where's the 16 year-old girl who alerted authorities about the alleged abuse?
3. And where will 416 children be sent to? will they be better off in the end?

For those of you who haven't been following this story out of Texas. Here's a QUICK recap. Texas Cops, clad in full body armor and automatic weapons raided an FLDS Compound in El Dorado, built by followers of the FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs who is now in behind bars in Kingman, Arizona after being found guilty of arranging a marriage between an underage girl and her cousin among other charges. Back to the raid...authorities say a 16 year-old girl called them on a cell phone and told them she was being abused by her 50 year-old husband, whom she was forced to marry. The raid resulted in the removal of 416 children who (some of them) according to authorities were believed to have been physically or sexually abused or in danger of being victimized. 139 women (their mothers) went along with them, staying at a shelter in Texas. But after some of the FLDS women talked to the media, Texas officials forced most of the mothers (more than 100) to go back to the compound without their children. The children's fate will be decided in a courtroom. That process will take MONTHS.

Now that you've been updated. I've been listening to the women at the ranch talk about what happened to them. This is their story. Read along and let me know what you think.

Flds Mother: "Our children need us and they have been taken away from us."

COPS CLAD IN FULL BODY ARMOR...AND AUTOMATIC WEAPONS. THESE ARE NEW PHOTOS OF THE RAID AT THE YFZ RANCH IN EL DORADO, TEXAS. THEY WERE TAKEN BY FLDS MEMBERS, AND RELEASED TO THE MEDIA.

Flds Mother: "I was never served any papers, I have not seen my children."

416 CHILDREN REMAIN IN STATE CUSTODY AT A SHELTER...BUT MOST OF THEIR MOTHERS WERE FORCED TO GO BACK TO THE COMPOUND WITHOUT THEM.

Flds Mother: "I have continually petitioned the cps...we've even gone to the governor...and even invited the president to come see what is happening in Texas."

THESE FLDS WOMEN ARE PLEADING WITH AUTHORITIES.

Flds Mother: "We are a very private people."

TEXAS OFFICIALS SAY *THIS* IS A NORMAL PART OF A CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION...AND THE CHILDREN ARE DOING FINE.

Child Protective Services: "I can tell you that today, the children at the shelter are doing well. They're happy, they're smiling, they're playing, they're interacting with staff."

THEIR MOTHERS ARE NOT CONVINCED...AND BELIEVE THE 16 YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO ALERTED AUTHORITIES ABOUT THE ALLEGED ABUSE DOESN'T EVEN EXIST.

Flds Mother: "No one has ever seen her or know of her...that was a prank phone call."

BUT WHAT ABOUT ABUSE AT THE FLDS COMPOUND?

Flds Mother: "We are not a people of force...no force..."
Flds Mother: "We decry against that...we are a people who do not partake or participate in child abuse in any way."
Flds Mother: "we haven't done anything wrong."

THE WOMEN ALSO SAID THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN ARE *NOT* FORCED TO MARRY OLDER MEN...AND ARE *NOT* HAVING BABIES AS TEENS.

Flds Mother: "That is not correct, you are accusing and you have no fact."

AND WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR UNCONVENTIONAL LIFESTYLE AS POLYGAMISTS...

Flds Mother: "We all love it here and we all want to be here and if we don't want to be here, we don't have to be here."
Flds Mother: "When I was 12 years old I chose to come back to the ranch, not to this ranch but I chose to come back to live and it's my choice...I love it here, I would never choose to go back."


*These women are upset because their children were taken away from them. Any mother can understand that. Anyone can understand that. But watching the full interview this morning, I couldn't help but to feel for these women. Have they been brainwashed? Are the men at the compound feeding them lines? They said they choose their lifestyle, they are happy with their lifestyle and if they wanted to leave, they are free to do so. But anyone who has experience working with women of domestic violence and abuse know that these women could be suffering and may be too afraid to speak out about what could be really happening. We've heard from women like Carolyn Jessop talk about escaping a polygamist lifestyle and we've heard other women who lived through it talk about the horrors of polygamy.*


My questions: are we judging and categorizing them because of their lifestyle? Do you believe what they say or do you think they've been brainwashed?

Going back Generations...

It's February and that means SWEEPS. It also means I get to work on a special series of stories. The stories are always original ideas that have to be exclusive to our T.V. station. This month I worked on two stories. You can find the first one under the blog, "Pocket Paternity."

This second sweeps piece, which I'm thrilled about is called "Know my Roots." While my photographer and I were out shooting the paternity story, we discovered the same company, Sorenson Genomics helps people track their ancestry through DNA. Imagine, a small string of mitochondrial DNA, passed down from your mother has the answers to who you are. Part of you anyway...

Genetree.com is a Salt Lake City based website that claims to get people from your past (living and dead)connected. I decided to demonstrate the results and sent my DNA in to the lab. Two weeks later, I met with a Geneticist (a very impressive Dr. Scott Woodward) who was able to pin point where my great, great, great (tack a couple more "greats") grandmother was from. We went back generations...3,400 years ago to 1400 B.C. Turns out she was born somewhere between Turkey and Syria, solidifying what I've been told all along growing up. I'm Assyrian.

It was a unique opportunity to be able to share a piece of me with viewers. And after more than three years as a journalist, the word "Assyrian" finally makes it into one of my reports.

I've pasted the promotion for the story, which airs this Friday. By then, there will be a link that directs you to the two part story, which can be viewed at myfoxutah.com



UPDATE: here is part 1 & 2 of "Know your Roots" that aired and generated a lot attention from the Assyrian community! Like I said, this is just the beginning. One day, people will know who the Assyrians are.

PART ONE


PART TWO

Investigative: Caught in the Act

It costs Utah businesses more than 34 million dollars a year and it's the fastest growing scam in the nation: workers compensation insurance fraud. Get busted and you could pay a hefty price, even spend time behind bars.

This is an investigative story about Utahns caught in the act. Catch part 1 & 2 on the link below. Clips will be posted and accessible on this blog soon.

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=707CF3B8CDE90BDE262F54BCA4363BFD?contentId=4982895&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Pocket Paternity

Do-it-yourself DNA kits could be hitting a drug store near you. They're already available in some Rite Aid stores. They're confidential and you can get results in less than a week for under 120 dollars. The maker of the "Identigene Branded Paternity Test" is Sorenson Genomics, a Salt Lake City based company in Utah.

This is a story I worked on this month for my local Fox station. You can access part 1 & 2 on the link below. I'm working on downloading the news clips so you can watch my special series stories on this blog.

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=60B325FA014553B57C289B294E7F3E49?contentId=5703961&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1