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SAN ANGELO, Texas - Infants taken into custody during a raid on a polygamous sect's west Texas ranch get mother's milk, after all.
The judge overseeing the cases of more than 400 FLDS children said Wednesday in a status hearing that the adult mothers of infants age 12 months and under should remain with their babies in the state's care.
District Judge Barbara Walther made the request of Texas Child Protective Services after receiving an update from the agency on its attempts to place the sect's children in foster homes or shelters.
Earlier this week, Walther rejected a temporary restraining order that sought to keep breast-feeding mothers with their infants.
On Tuesday, 111 children ages 5 and older left the San Angelo Coliseum and Pavilion, where they have been staying, for foster homes across the state, said CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam. The remainder are expected to be moved in the coming days.
The relocation of 437 children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints comes nearly three weeks after a raid on the ranch, prompted by calls to a local shelter from someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl being abused by her FLDS husband. She hasn't been found and Texas Rangers are investigating the calls to make sure the complaints were not a hoax.
CPS attorney Gary Banks told the judge that there are 18 adult mothers with babies 12 months and under in custody. Placements already have been found for 16 of those mothers and their children, he said.
Walther also requested that CPS keep children between 12 and 24 months in proximity to their mothers so they can visit frequently.
There are 23 adult women with a total of 28 children between the ages of 12 and 24 months, according to CPS.
The judge earlier rejected a motion that would have required the agency to keep the children within a five-county radius.
"No one wants to see these children separated from their parents," said Walther. "In a perfect world, that wouldn't happen, but this isn't a perfect world."
Children between the ages of 3 and 5 will go to foster care settings, Banks said, and some children ages 5 to 18 will go into group settings. He told the court that siblings will be kept together.
However, an attorney representing five children from one family said that is not necessarily happening.
After the hearing, Mary Golder said a 4-year-old girl was separated from her siblings Tuesday. "It will be devastating for this child," she said.
The task of placing 437 children in foster care is a "lose-lose situation for everybody," Golder said. "I just hope CPS will follow what they represented in court."
During the hearing, Walther told Banks she wanted the children to be able to exercise their religion and have access to the clothing they desired while in foster care. Banks said CPS is setting up educational evaluations for each child.
Individual hearings for the children will begin May 18.
CPS and the court has been "stretched beyond belief," Walther said. She urged attorneys representing sect members and those lawyers appointed by the state to represent the interests of the children to refrain from filing more court motions before those hearings.
"We have four to five feet of filings, and it's very hard for me to go through five feet of filings."