Have Polygamists Had A Change Of Heart On Underage Marriage?

A Texas child welfare official testified on Tuesday regarding her department’s raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, “The action we took, I believe, has changed the behavior of this organization.”

Last April 439 children were seized from the ranch. Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein testified in a House Human Services Committee hearing that the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints group now realizes forcing teenage girls into marriage is sexual abuse. However, committee members said she may be too optimistic, since the group has been known to coach the children to give misleading information. They suggested that there is no way to be sure if church members are being honest about underage marriages now. [UPI]