The Children of El Dorado

* Picture this: A call comes in to a local shelter, from a cell phone -- she says her name is Sarah, she's 16, she lives at the local FLDS compound, she was forced to marry an older man, who abuses her; she has an 8 month old child, she may be pregnant again, she's scared, she wants help.
State law requires that any suspicion of child abuse -- which includes sex between someone under sixteen and a man over nineteen -- be reported to Child Protective Services, which then is required to investigate. Their mandate, of course, is to protect any child shown to be abused, neglected, or in any immediate danger of abuse. No one can argue that.
And there have been reports, and even court cases, for years. Stories about how this sect treats young women, marrying them off in their teens, against their will, to much older men. About how the younger men are sent away, so the older men won't have any competition for the young brides. And there must be something creepy going on, right? Otherwise, why would they wall themselves off and keep to themselves?

* Now picture this: you are seven years old. You've spent your entire life in a very enclosed, very protected environment. You probably don't know that your church and home are regarded with a great deal of suspicion by the outside world. You do know that you are always, always, surrounded by family. Lots and lots of family. Your birth mother, your "other" mothers, four or five or six siblings, tons of cousins.
Suddenly your home is swarmed by law enforcement. Many of them carrying rifles. There is even a tank. You and all the rest of the children are taken away from your home, and you don't understand why. But at least your mother is with you.
But then, she's not. All children over 5 are separated from their mothers. You're left with strangers, strangers who are asking you questions you don't understand; the food is different, you're all crowded together in a strange place, they're having trouble finding clothes for you. You can't go home, not now, maybe not ever.

Polygamy is against the law. Forced marriage is against the law. Marriage under the age of sixteen is, in this state, against the law. The state, and society, have a duty to protect its people against all of these. Quite possibly the state had every right to go in looking for Sarah.
But . . .
Where is Sarah? Not yet identified. Is she in the crowd that was removed from the compound? If she is, she's not saying, and she's giving another name. The call was from a cell phone, and there have been no reports that the geographic origin of the call was traced.
There are reports that some of the young women, under sixteen, are pregnant. If true, there is cause in their cases. But the state will have to show that all 416 children have suffered, or are in immediate danger of suffering, abuse. All 416. Who have been torn from their homes & families.

I don't know anyone who doesn't think this sect is a little creepy. The question may come down to, is creepiness enough to justify this type of wholesale action?

And if it is, who defines "creepy"?

I've got no answers, folks. Only questions.