The secluded Texas ranch where followers of imprisoned polygamist Warren Jeffs lived in near isolation has been seized by state agents, nearly six years after the FBI raided the property and removed hundreds of children amid child sex allegations.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said its agents took possession of the Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado.
In a statement, the DPS said only eight adults were still living on the west Texas property and they agreed to leave after meeting agents. Authorities helped them vacate the ranch.
Jeffs is serving life in prison after being convicted in 2011 of sexually assaulting two girls he took as child brides. In 2005 he was included on the FBI's most wanted fugitives list
The ranch was owned by his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism whose roughly 10,000 followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
They see Jeffs as God's spokesman on Earth.
The state asked a judge to allow the forfeiture, alleging that FLDS leaders financed a $1.1 million purchase of the land in 2003 through money laundering. It also cited sexual assaults committed on the property.
Under Texas law, authorities can seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct.
A judge granted the state's request in January.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article