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Updated: 11:48 AM- SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Some three-dozen guardian ad litem attorneys attended a scheduling session today for the upcoming custody hearing concerning 416 children taken from the FLDS polygamous ranch in nearby Eldorado.

And that is just the beginning of the influx of lawyers expected for Thursday's proceedings at the Tom Green County Courthouse. Court officials estimate about 300 attorneys will be arriving in the Texas town to unravel the complicated fates of the children taken from the ranch since an April 1 raid.

Texas law officers raided the compound of the secretive Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints sect after receiving a 9-1-1 call from a so-far unidentified teen-age bride. She claimed she had been abused by her polygamist husband.

A representative of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told Judge Barbara Walther this morning that the state plans to handle all 416 children as a single case. Evidence has surfaced that there had been a systematic process at the YFZ Ranch of sexually exploiting and abusing children, the state maintains.

The judge also was advised that determining parentage of the children could prove difficult, since the sect's adults have been providing inconsistent and inaccurate information.

Four of the parents, meanwhile, have hired attorney Andrea Sloan to represent them, though no other parental lawyers seem to have been retained so far. The FLDS sect has obtained its own legal counsel.

The judge says she will issue a notice informing FLDS parents of their right to legal representation, and encouraging them to work with Texas State Bar to obtain it.

The task ahead, logistically, is daunting, Walther added. "If we give everyone five minutes that would [still] be 70 hours of testimony," she said, adding she would seek some way to efficiently manage that aspect of Thursday's proceedings.

"We need to handle these cases as individual cases because we're dealing with individual families," the judge added. "We need to recognize that, and the court wants to respect that."

Walther appointed two coordinating guardian ad litems -- Randall Stout and Carmen Dusek -- to help make that happen.

After a break, attorneys discussed how to break the large number of women and children into smaller working groups.

Dusek suggested these groupings: mothers who are ages 12 to 17; teenage girls who are not mothers in the same age range; girls and boys ages 5 to 11, in two separate gender groups; boys and girls from birth to age 4, again in separate groups; and children with special needs.

One current problem: there are 20 to 30 women who claim to be adults over age 18 but are not believed by the state.

"Some of these women are providing birth certificates and IDs and are being told they are lying," said Criselda Paz from Legal Aid of North Texas.

"We have had extensive problems and complications with regard to the age of these women," Dusek said, suggesting a special master be appointed to resove each case.

Stout said women and adults have changed the names they are giving officials, and younger children are being passed from adult to adult.

He suggested creating a medical file with photographs for each child, so children can be identified regardless of what name they give or who is providing their care.

Tim Hargrove, an attorney representing the interest of parents, said handling the interests of adult women "en masse" raises serious constitional issues.

He and other attorneys asked who will question witnesses; what time limits will exist; and how adults will speak with attorneys when cell phones have been confiscated and the women have been told if they leave, they cannot return.

Gary Banks, representing state child welfare officials, said the state will try to pare down its witness list and will set up a phone bank and videoconferencing for interested teens and adults at the two shelters.

The judge said she was aware that holding a single hearing on Thursday for all of the involved children and adults raises constitutional issues, and she said she is still considering how to proceed. As for managing the large number of parties, she said: "Quite frankly, I'm not sure how were going to do it."

She thanked the many attorneys helping with the effort: "I'm so proud of Texas lawyers today."

After the hearing, Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the FLDS families, says the women at the shelters are afraid to leave because they have been told they will not be allowed to return.

"I think they feel at this point that the system is biased against them and that they are not being able to present their side of the story," said Parker.

Parker said he doesn't see how the state can handle the planned Thursday hearing en masse. The state would like to put forward one case as representing everyone, but is required by law to deal with each family individually, Parker said. The parents involved are entitled to due process at the hearing, he said.

"Just because there are logistical issues doesn't mean [the state] can violate the rights of 500 women and children," Parker said.

When asked whether he thought the initial call from the 16-year-old was a hoax, Parker replied there seems to be a "serious indication" it could have been.

"That is very serious issue if this call ends up to be a hoax," he said.

In a related development, the Texas Supreme Court today was holding an emergency session to consider Walther's request for electronic filing of proceedings in the custody case.