Texas Rangers participated in the arrest of a Colorado woman who allegedly pretended to be a girl locked in a basement. The Rangers were in the state as part of their investigation into the Texas polygamy custody battle, local police told ABC News.
Officials in Texas raided a polygamist compound and took 416 children into custody after an abuse hotline received a series of phone calls from the purported teen who said she was being held at the compound. The girl, who called herself Sarah, said she was being physically and sexually abused by her adult husband, court documents say.
Texas child protection lawyers have said they believe the girl does exist, even though they have not found her.
But ABC News has learned that Texas Rangers flew to Colorado Springs, Colo., and participated in the arrest of a 33-year-old woman who was charged with filing a false report.
The FBI also told ABC News it is assisting local police in the investigation. Colorado Springs police said in a statement that "The Texas Rangers were in Colorado Springs Wednesday as part of their investigation involving the compound in Texas."
Local police said Swinton had been under investigation for some time on that accusation, but police made an immediate arrest after the Texas Rangers became involved.
"This arrest stemmed from an incident that occurred in Colorado Springs in February of this year," Colorado Springs Police said in a statement. "The Texas Rangers were in Colorado Springs yesterday as part of their investigation involving the compound in Texas. They left and have not filed any charges on Rozita Swinton as of this time. "
ABC News was unable to reach Swinton or her lawyer for comment.
Swinton became a person of interest to Texas authorities when former Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints member Flora Jessop, who now operates a rescue mission for teenage girls trying to escape the sect, told authorities she had been getting calls from a girl claiming to be Sarah -- the same girl who made the call for help to a San Angelo, Texas, shelter that led to the raid on the El Dorado compound.
Jessop told ABC News that she -- at the direction of Texas Rangers -- began recording those calls in the past two weeks and that the Rangers were able to trace them to Colorado Springs, where the arrest was made.
Jessop's allegations could not be immediately confirmed by ABC News. on bond in Colorado Springs.
Swinton has an arrest record that includes another false report charge from 2005.
the road to hana wrote:Someone on RFM is claiming that this woman accused of making prank calls from Colorado is an active member of the local LDS ward there.
I don't care who she is, I just hope she's prosecuted.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics "I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution (supposedly) protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Confiscating 400 children because of one single anonymous phone call is the definition of an "unreasonable seizure". Shocking and tragic.
The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution (supposedly) protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Confiscating 400 children because of one single anonymous phone call is the definition of an "unreasonable seizure". Shocking and tragic.
Another concern regards the possibility of fumbling the legality of the trial, etc. jeopardizing evidence, the investigation, etc. If there were illegal and abusive things going on, the trial could become a complete joke based on the false premise upon which it was built, presumably a fake phone call. In short, actual abuses and problems may eventually go unpunished and unresolved.
One moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste- The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing; Oh, make haste! -Omar Khayaam
They ought to CRUCIFY the idiot thugs who did this. Totally outrageous, totally sick. I hope these fundies win eight gazillion bucks from the state of Texas suing them later - it would pay for them to rebuild the temple those goons damaged.
There are loads of less abusive ways of ensuring that children aren't abused. Totally outrageous. Where is the ACLU on this? Are they even around?
I agree the whole thing was crazy as a mass detention of the children. In California it would have been on a case by case basis. You would need more information and the hot-line social worker would have to find the location of the child saying she is being abused. This is really a civil rights issue. I'm sure that not only are 350 lawyers involved in the Juvenile Court system (child abuse system) but another 350 are right in line to sue the state. One phone call and over a five hundred to a thousand lawyers get involved. WOW!
