This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Colorado City man was granted visitation with his children Tuesday, more than a year after his family fractured when he was kicked out of the polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs.
Fifth District Judge James Shumate decided Lorin Holm must be allowed to visit his nine minor children at least twice a week for two to three hours at a time, the St. George Spectrum reported.
Guardian ad litem Nadine Hansen recommended Holm be given custody, even though she said the seven older children were "not very excited about seeing their father," who is considered an apostate by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, according to the Spectrum.
Hansen said she made that decision after seeing evidence introduced against Jeffs in a Texas sexual assault of a child trial. Jeffs was convicted of marrying two underage girls and sentenced to life in prison. Holm argued in court documents that his children are also at risk of being married underage.
Shumate also ordered the children not have any visits with an ecclesiastical leader without a parent. The temporary orders will be reviewed again in a hearing scheduled for March 21.
The children are now with their mothers, two of Holm's wives. They testified at Friday's hearing that Holm initially left the family after he was told he'd "lost priesthood." When he turned against sect leaders and returned to his family a few months later, the women said they felt Holm had also turned against them, the Spectrumreported.
Another hearing the case is scheduled for March 15.
Twitter: @lwhitehurst
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