Authorities get access to polygamist retreat temple

Sarah Dallof and the AP reporting Law enforcement peacefully got access to a temple on the grounds of a polygamist compound in West Texas. Prosecutor Allison Palmer says there were tense moments Saturday night, but the situation remained calm.

The search continues Sunday at the ranch in Eldorado, where followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs built a compound on a former exotic game ranch.

FLDS church leaders had refused to let law enforcement search the compound's temple. But late Saturday, SWAT teams entered the temple in their search for a 16-year-old girl who reported being abused. No violence was reported.

SWAT finished searching the temple and moved on to the temple annex, according to the Web site of the local newspaper, The Eldorado Success. Earlier reports said medical crews were on standby and a helicopter was seen circling above the FLDS compound, as authorities said they were "preparing for the worst."

Officers are looking for a 16-year-old girl who reported to police that she had been physically abused. They're also looking for her baby and 50-year-old Dale Barlow. They wanted to search inside the temple, but were told no non-believer could enter. So law enforcement prepared for a possible standoff.

Buses were back on the road between the YFZ Ranch and Eldorado, Texas today. Marleigh Meisner of Child Protective Services said, "We have another 131 residents that have been removed."

That brings the total number of people removed from the FLDS compound over the past two days to 183. Of that number, 137 are children who are being interviewed by Child Protective Services.

Meisner said, "Essentially what we're trying to do in questioning these children is trying to find out if they're safe. Our job is keeping children safe, and we need to know if they've been abused, neglected, or at a high risk of being abused or neglected."

Eighteen of the children are in protective legal custody. The others are being cared for at the civic center in town. "The kids are doing remarkably well. We're really trying to be aware that their whole world has changed," Meisner said.

Now attention is shifting back to the compound, where, according to The Associated Press, FLDS officials refused to allow law enforcement officers to search the temple.

Ambulances are on standby. Authorities said if no agreement was reached with sect leaders, they would forcibly remove the sect's followers "as peaceably as possible," Allison Palmer, a prosecutor in Tom Green County, told the San Angelo Standard-Times.

The 1,700-acre compound was built about four years ago by FLDS church leader Warren Jeffs, who was convicted last year on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. It's normally home to about 400 FLDS followers, a number cut nearly in half by the past two days' events.

A search warrant authorized state troopers to enter the retreat run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and look for evidence of a marriage between the 16-year-old girl and a 50-year-old man. Today police searched for the girl who called them, her baby, and 50-year-old Dale Barlow. Court paperwork indicates the girl was 15 when she gave birth to a child who is now 8-months-old.

The search warrant instructed officers to look for marriage records or other evidence linking the girl to Barlow and the baby. The warrant authorized the seizure of computer drives, CDs, DVDs or photos.

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Dale Barlow is in Arizona and that he told his parole officer he's never met his 16-year-old accuser. Barlow has pleaded no contest to commit sexual conduct with a minor last year. As a condition of his probation, he is required to register as a sex offender for three years.

KSL's calls to his home in Colorado City were not returned.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com

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