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Updated: 12:14 PM- A Texas official said Wednesday that at least 41 children from the polygamous YFZ Ranch have had broken bones and some young boys may have been sexually abused -- allegations that drew rapid denials from the FLDS sect.
Cary Cockerell, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, told a committee of Texas lawmakers that investigators don't have complete medical information on all the children but that the findings were "cause for concern." He said also said the sexual abuse claim was based on interviews with children and journals found at the ranch.
Salt Lake City attorney Rod Parker accused the department of putting out "misleading information" to malign the polygamous sect.
Parker said some children in the community have brittle bone disease and that Texas Child Protective Services was informed of that.
"That makes some of the children more susceptible to broken bones," Parker said. "The mothers told CPS about that when they were taken in. They've known all along that the reason they might see higher incidence of broken bones was due to this condition. They have no evidence to support the implication it is due to child abuse."
Cockerell shared the information with the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which met Wednesday morning in Austin.
In a written report submitted to the committee, Cockerell described a "pattern of deception" that began in the first interviews with children and adults at the YFZ Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Some refused to give or changed their names and refused to answer questions about ages and family relationships. Children were moved from home to home at the ranch to prevent investigators from speaking to them, he said.
The state's investigation also has been complicated by the children's fear of the outside world, he said.
While in state shelters, women and children were tagged with identification bracelets but the "women and children removed the bracelets or rubbed the wording off them," the department's report said.
Some women initially refused to let the children undergo basic health screenings and many teen girls declined pregnancy tests. Children also were coached to not answer questions, it said.
Texas officials raided the YFZ Ranch on April 3 after a San Angelo shelter said it had been contacted by a caller claiming to be a 16-year-old abused by her polygamous husband. Those calls are being investigated as a possible prank by a Colorado woman. But child welfare officials say they found evidence of a pattern of abuse at the ranch that justified removal of all children.