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At least 41 children from the YFZ Ranch have had broken bones and investigators now say young boys may have been sexually abused - allegations that drew fierce denials from the polygamous sect.
Carey Cockerell, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, told a state Senate committee in Austin on Wednesday that it is too early to draw conclusions about the injuries. But the initial findings are "cause for concern," and physical and sexual abuse investigations will continue, he said.
He said the information on fractures came from medical exams and reports from the children themselves. Investigators have found evidence of fractures in "very young children," he added.
Allegations of sexual abuse of boys are based on interviews with children and entries in journals found at the ranch, he said.
Cockerell also provided new details about the possible sexual abuse of girls. Cockerell said eight of the 27 girls ages 14 to 17 are pregnant, have children or both.
Of the 26 additional females whose ages are disputed, 24 have children, he said.
In Texas and in Salt Lake City, two FLDS spokesmen accused the child welfare agency of putting out "misleading information designed to malign" the sect.
The community's physician also denied any child abuse occurred at the ranch.
"We certainly see a number of fractures, but they are all consistent" with typical childhood activities, such as falling off a bed or during play, said Lloyd H. Barlow, a sect member and family practitioner who oversees a health clinic at the YFZ Ranch.
"The vast majority are minor fractures, buckle fractures, very typical fractures that are treated in a family practice setting," Barlow said, adding that children with more complicated breaks were treated at medical facilities in Eldorado and San Angelo.
A spokeswoman for Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo declined to say whether any FLDS children have been treated there. Staff at the family medicine clinic in Eldorado declined to answer any questions on Wednesday.
A broken bone does not automatically indicate a child has been abused, child abuse experts said. The context of the injury is considered.
"A lot of it would depend on the age of the kid," said Julie Bradshaw, director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Families at Primary Children's Medical Center. "We would be much more concerned about broken bones in a child not yet walking than in an older child."
Cockerell did not provide a breakdown of ages of children who have had broken bones.
Willie Jessop, an FLDS member, said one such injury occurred while the children were in CPS care. He said Sarah Ann Jeffs, 7, broke her arm while in custody at the Wells Fargo Pavilion in San Angelo and was treated at a local hospital.
Texas authorities raided the ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in the first week of April and have taken custody of 464 children said to be at risk of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Salt Lake City attorney Rod Parker, speaking at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, said Texas officials had put out a "bare statement" knowing it would lead media and the public to jump to a conclusion of abuse.
"They don't have any evidence that it is abuse and neither do I," he said. "What is happening here is CPS is doing what it has consistently done in this case, and that is to grab headlines."
Parker said he misspoke earlier when he said some of the children have brittle bone disease; the disorder is found in the community, but not in the families at the ranch.
Theodore Tarby of Phoenix, a retired child neurologist who has treated some children from the FLDS community of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., for a genetic digestive disorder, said he had never seen evidence of physical abuse.
"It's a tough community," said Tarby, who retired from practice three years ago. "They ride ATVs, at least when they were in [the Utah and Colorado community,] they climb mountains. They are active in the outdoors."
Texas authorities investigating the sect's treatment of children have been hampered by a "pattern of deception" that began when they first arrived at the ranch on April 3, according to a written report submitted to the Senate committee.
Cockerell said some residents refused to give or changed their names and would not answer questions about ages and family relationships. Parents moved children around 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," his report said.
Some women initially refused to let the children undergo basic health screenings and coached children to not answer questions. Many teen girls declined pregnancy tests.
"We still do not have firm count on how many are pregnant," Cockerell said.
Cockerell also told the Senate committee about efforts to educate care providers and child welfare caseworkers about the FLDS children. "Every effort has been made to understand, respect and incorporate their religious practices," he said.
The children, now located in group facilities and foster homes across Texas, are "holding up remarkably well," he said.
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* NATE CARLISLE contributed to this story.