Warning Teresa Steed. Patrick Crimmins is an effortless liar, don't believe him.

Texas is saying that it's no longer interested in DNA from Teresa Steed's child, and that it's "dropped the matter." This is one of those times I am tempted to employ an epithet, having had Patrick Crimmins lie persuasively and effortlessly to my face.

"Texas authorities confirmed to the Deseret News that (Teresa Steed) did not appear at a hearing scheduled Tuesday in San Antonio. Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said that the girl was unable to be served, so they dropped the matter.

'We did inform the judge about our continued concern for the safety of (Teresa's) baby and that if she or the baby were located, we would come back to court if needed,' Crimmins said in an e-mail to the Deseret News on Wednesday.

(Teresa), whom CPS alleges was married to a 40-year-old man at age 14, has been defiant throughout the child custody proceedings. She gave birth to a child just after CPS returned all 439 children last year. She consistently refused to tell the judge over the custody case where her baby was, putting her at risk for contempt of court. At one point, CPS accused her of switching babies to avoid a DNA test and the agency demanded that she undergo a psychological evaluation.

That apparently never happened. At the same time the agency dropped the girl from court oversight, it also filed a court motion in San Antonio seeking a DNA test for her baby and some oversight over her to monitor her parenting skills."

I don't think that Teresa or those surrounding her believe Patrick in actuality. I'm just letting the rest of you know that the only way we can ever find out if they are trustworthy in this specific matter, would be for Teresa to believe Patrick Crimmins and CPS. If she did, and put her trust in their words, they would snatch her child for a bare minimum of the DNA test so quickly you would hear the sonic booms on the other side of the planet.

Hat tip to Biblical or Christian Polygamy.

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Rumor Confirmed, CPS Custody Cases spawn first "Grand Child."

In a sense, this is "Son of CPS Custody" or "CPS Custody Cases, the Sequel."

Paul Anthony reports in the San Angelo Standard-Times;

"(Teresa Steed's) nonsuit, filed Thursday, removes from the case a girl who has vexed state and court officials with her refusals to produce her 8-month-old baby, which CPS had sought for genetic testing. The Salt Lake Tribune reported CPS opened a new case in San Antonio, where the girl lives, seeking access to the baby to monitor the girl's parenting skills."

What I don't understand is by what mechanism CPS feels it has the right to access to the child? Is this now a country, or is Texas now a state where a child they have never seen is subject to their warrantless inspection?

To put it another way, I assure you there has been no report of abuse, and previously there was a supposed concern for Teresa Steed herself. Now, the state of Texas, not even being sure (perhaps) that the child was even born in this country, or in fact has ever lived in the state of Texas, wants access to the child. Do they even have jurisdiction over the child, or have they ever, at any time in the past established that they do?

Remember, Teresa Steed was not in state care at the time of her giving birth, but was under CPS suit. If DFPS took her wrongly (she was returned) and has now acknowledged no ongoing concern by it's nonsuit, at what point did it then ever have a legitimate interest in the child?

I think that the child was born in the United States, and probably within the jurisdiction of Texas, and they may have proof of this in some way. Judging though from the apparent lack of knowledge Texas seems to have about the child's gender, there may be no basis to believe that this is a CPS custody issue.

We're deeply into the surreal now, so there's no telling what happens next, other than the track record of the Texas CPS, is that it has lost 438 of 439 cases, give or take.

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Merrianne Jessop to be returned, UPDATED, Texas has no clothes.

How can Texas maintain they "saw abuse" at the ranch when they didn't given any names in the second warrant (update, specifically, the affidavit of Ruby Gutierrez) UPDATED, per the Salt Lake Tribune, the hearing to place Merrianne will come in May.

In a filing in a San Angelo, Texas, court, CPS lawyers are now seeking to have the girl removed from foster care and placed with a relative. In a filing obtained by the Deseret News on Thursday, CPS said that it still has a goal of reuniting the girl with her mother, Barbara Jessop, but asks to continue as temporary 'sole managing conservator of the child.'

CPS conducted a home study on the woman, 51, who is a second cousin once removed, and moved to Texas from Utah.

'She indicated that since she had provided placement for other children involved in the YFZ Ranch case and was able to cooperate with CPS, she felt that she would be able to assist in the care of (the girl),' CPS caseworker Ashley Kennedy wrote in a report filed with the court."

This is the state of Texas hanging on by it's fingernails. Clearly a good deal is going on behind the scenes that we don't see.

Getting back to that second warrant (affidavit of Ruby Gutierrez), empty of names. Teresa Steed was the only child that could have been listed as abused and listed in some way, in the warrant affidavit, that gave Texas continuing cause. I suspect strongly that the unsealing of the warrant affidavit is related to the release of Teresa. Imagine a conversation in which it is stated that Texas had no cause to have Ms. Steed under suit in the first place. Texas claims "She's PREGNANT, that's our CAUSE" and lawyers for Ms. Steed and the FLDS say "Show me where you saw that, if you have her under suit as a result of discovering her in the second search, then it was none of your business, if you have her identified in the second sealed warrant and it's affidavit, well, then, you got us."

Teresa Steed is not identified in any way shape or form in the second warrant affidavit, and for that matter, no one is. Some kid(s) (number and names unknown) are malnourished. Some kid(s) are poorly educated. Some kid(s) believe it's OK to marry young. Some kid(s) are pregnant.

No one is named. No one is described. There isn't even an attempt to do so.

What we have here is a failure to see anything, and being at YFZ for no reason. There is no Sarah. There is no Dale Barlow (at least in Texas), there is nothing seen at all while Texas wanders about YFZ looking for evidence. Texas panics further and starts busting down doors and breaking things and running off with computers, books, Bibles and Books of Mormon to save their butts.

At this point, if they can't find anything they are exposed. Well, now they are exposed.

Merrianne Jessop was not malnourished, pregnant or illiterate. She is either married in fact, or betrothed to Warren Jeffs and Warren was in jail, far from YFZ.

They have NOTHING.

There is a rumor that they are trying to place a child not legally a citizen of the country at the time of the raid, under suit. That would be the child Teresa Steed was pregnant with at the time of the raid. That's truly strange.

Unless there is a birth certificate somewhere (entirely possible) in the United States, it may very well be that Teresa Steed's child, is not even a citizen of this country. Or at least, that's possible.

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Walther Isolated? There goes the judge.

Don't look behind you right now Barbara.

Because that crowd of followers you used to have, is about to saw that branch off, that you're on, all alone. Guess who isn't the judge? Looks like they slated Teresa Steed with the Reunion Happy Judge Peter Sakai.

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Teresa Steed Non Suited

This, is really bad for Texas, not Teresa.

And I suppose that means the Psych exam has been done, or won't be. Either way it doesn't matter. More later.

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The San Angelo Archipelago?

Teresa Steed is off to a psychiatric exam it seems, at a gulag.

She's going to be 18, in 5 months. This is an interrogation, and attempt to discredit. A rationale for child custody, if of course Mom is evaluated to be deficient, or in custody when the child is found. Shades of the Soviet Gulag.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "She did not appear in court, where 51st District Judge Barbara Walther granted state attorneys' requests for the testing but rejected their efforts to cancel a March 17 custody hearing."

She then goes on to prompt John Dolezal as if he were a bad actor who had forgotten his lines.

"If we're just doing testing without any idea of what you're going to do, what's the point?" (the Judge) said to CPS lead attorney John Dolezal.

"Testing is needed to decide what we're going to do," he replied.

Any pretense that the state knows what it's doing, or what it wants evaporates here. Walther knows what she wants. A mom in custody so that she can blackmail mom with threatened state custody, when Teresa Steed does not cooperate.

"My client would very much like her daughter to go along with the psychological evaluation," said Dallas attorney Cornelia Boyea. "But she's 17-and-a-half years old and has a mind of her own."

And there is no way, short of finding the child and threatening to take it from Ms. Steed, that she will move her. Cornelia is right. She's 17 and a half. She has a mind of her own. This is ridiculous.

"Walther also dismissed the case of Joseph Jeffs, a son of sect leader Warren Jeffs who has been raised by his aunt, Annette Jeffs."

I guess publicity is what boys are made for. No qualms are exhibited here about a young man, underage, who's name we do not need to know. Say "hi" to Joseph Jeffs.

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Ok, so it's two Teenage Girls.

I've been hearing a lot lately, and getting a lot wrong, and some of it right, and then wrong again about just exactly WHO it is, that is still under CPS scrutiny. Finally, the official story. I have the number right.

And the "Who" half right.

"The massive child custody case has dwindled to only two children who remain under court oversight. One is a 14-year-old girl authorities allege was married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. The other is a girl state authorities claim was married at 14 and gave birth to a boy at 16. (She is 17 now.)

Texas CPS officials confirmed to the Deseret News on Tuesday that aside from the two cases still pending, the remaining families are no longer required to attend classes, counseling or be followed up on by caseworkers.

'We worked closely with all of the families, through the services we offered and through the work and monitoring by our caseworkers, to ensure that the children were safe and protected,' agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said. 'With the exception of two children, CPS is now out of these cases entirely.' "

Of course, that's Patrick Crimmins, and he's fibbed in sincere sounding fashion to me before so there would still be a grain of salt to apply, but I think we can rely on his statement here. He would be too easily found out by a prominent press outlet.

So we learn several things. It is a nearly 18 year old girl, the mother not of a girl, but a boy, that is still subject to a CPS suit. The child itself is not subject to the suit. That mother is Teresa Steed. She's about to "age out" of the system in five months, and tell the state to go take a hike.

There is Merrianne Jessop, the 14 (soon to be 15 year old) "child bride" of Warren Jeffs, who is ludicrously in physical custody while Warren languishes behind bars. There is little danger that the "sexual territory" of the prophet would be compromised on the outside, yet the state pretends there is such a danger. There is no safer woman or girl in all of YFZ. Texas CPS though engages in ludicrous prior restraint over the "fear" of an event that almost certainly would never happen. The potential "reassignment" of Merrianne Jessop to another husband.

Then there is the infuriating "newspeak" of the CPS about "offering services." If allowed, the FLDS I am sure, would chew the hand off to the elbow, that "offered" them such "services." Offered? OFFERED?? These "services" are gross invasions of privacy and disruptions of lives and endangerment of lives are being shoved down the collective throats of the FLDS. For such statements to be printed without qualification is noxious. I have remarked on it before, there should be an accompanying explanation every time such verbiage is offered by Texas, that the FLDS don't see them as being "offered" nor do they see them as "services."

Like I said, it's a lot like Texas saying they "offer" execution, as a "service" to men on death row.

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Just in case you think Teresa Steed is Acting for effect.

You think the FLDS "teen" who has a child is blowing this out of proportion? Is she pandering to sympathy? Shouldn't she trust the state's motives?

Just because they lie to her is no reason for her to play tricks on them to keep the baby away from the state is it?

The Salt Lake Tribune - "The state and attorneys for the girl and her mother agreed in November to a 'meet and greet' where caseworkers could observe the infant, not take DNA, he said.

But representatives of the Texas Attorney General's Office also showed up and performed the test.

'We don't know what their motives are but one thing we do know is it's not about protecting [the girl] or her baby,' Jessop said."

I always wonder why such facts are not reported at the time they were learned. I have a tendency to read most relevant articles on the topic, perhaps I missed it. Here Brooke Adams reveals that Teresa Steed shows up for the "meet and greet" (why she has to do this, I don't know) and we find trust is the first thing to be violated. All it was, was a sham to get DNA from the child.

Texas is not treating any of these children, as children and is not concerned for their well being beyond keeping them alive for evidence harvesting (the child) or hostage taking (Merrianne Jessop, Teresa Jeffs). They have no concern for their person, for their futures or for their happiness or health. They're TISSUE SAMPLES in an EVIDENCE locker.

After Teresa Steed has been lied to once by Texas Brown Shirts, why wouldn't she play games with them the next time? She clearly believes that whatever meeting it is that the state wishes to have, is misrepresented as to reason. They want the child. She doesn't want them to have the child.

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Fisking Fabulous Teresa Steed's Latest Escapade

(Fisk?) Regardless of what you may think of the FLDS, you can't call the women or girls immature or childish. This is first rate bait and switch.

The Dallas Morning News/AP - "Texas child welfare authorities have asked a judge to order (17 year old Teresa Steed) to submit to a psychological evaluation after she showed up to an appointment for genetic testing with someone else's baby."

What, did they want to know how she could be such a formidable opponent at such a young age? First she stonewalled them back in November, now they can't seem to find out which baby she brought with her, until they DNA test the child, and find out, they've been fooled again.

"(Teresa) had previously refused to disclose the whereabouts of the infant born in June, when she was 16 and shortly after she and the other 437 children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado were returned to their parents from foster care."

Aw, did a hopeless mind controlled 16 year old blow you off? Too smart for you?

"(Teresa) teen produced a baby purported to be her biological child for genetic testing in January, but tests revealed she is not the infant's biological mother, said Child Protective Services attorney John Dolezal in a court filing on Thursday."

I think what this means is that back when we thought she had caved to pressure, Teresa not only fooled them, she fooled us all. I seriously like this woman (Yes, a 17 year old CAN be a woman). Dang, why does she have to be married already? I was so disappointed, now I'm so pumped she pulled the wool over my eyes, and theirs too.

"State officials believe (Teresa Steed) was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult, and The Associated Press is withholding her name because it generally does not name possible victims of sex crimes."

That's ok, I'm not. She'll be 18 in 6 months anyway.

" 'It appears that (the girl) has been separated from her child,' (CPS lead attorney d'jour John R.) Dolezal said in the filing."

It appears that you have no idea who the child is, where the child is, and Teresa has been pulling of a job of acting that makes her the overlooked real winner of the Oscar for Best Actress this year.

"The agency is also concerned the girl is 'being improperly influenced, against her best interest, into making choices to not produce her child and to produce another individual's child,' he wrote."

No, this is an intelligent adult in all ways except age alone. She's protecting her child cunningly from people she doesn't trust who have lied to her family. She's doing it for good reason. She knows that if she can pull it off for another 6 months, she can tell CPS to take a hike. She doesn't believe the state when they say they aren't trying to get custody of her child and she figures that if they don't see see the child before she turns 18, she'll have a lot better chance. Hows that for a rational reason? A mom thinks enhancing her baby's chances to remain with her mother, is a good thing and acts to preserve that.

"CPS officials have said they want to ensure the infant is safe and are not seeking custody."

Yeah. Right. Sure. Mom knows that the infant is safe and that CPS can't seek custody if they can't find the child.

"The girl's attorney, Kelly Ellis, is on maternity leave and couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Monday."

What's this? Did they try to get at Teresa Steed while her lawyer was otherwise occupied? That's what it looks like to me.

Willie Jessop weighed in on the fascinating situation;

"The department has reaffirmed that they're not trustworthy. She was concerned that they would take the baby."

Jessop said.

"A hearing in the teen's case is scheduled for Friday."

Oh, I think this is shaping up to be a fun week.

"Her case is one of just two remaining cases in what was initially one of the largest custody cases in U.S. history."

And now we have the first official PRESS acknowledgment that I know of, that Bill Medvecky told us the truth back on February 17th. There are only two children left. Merrianne Jessop, and Teresa Steed's child. This has become though, the proverbial riddle, wrapped up in an enigma. The problem is it all might be wrapped up in a misdirection and layered under a mystery. No one including me knows what's up, except those at the heart of the matter. Teresa intends to keep her child away from CPS, and I don't blame her at all.

If I got any of this wrong, I hope I got someone at CPS to believe me. It doesn't look like that because of the way the San Angelo Standard-Times is reporting the story.

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Don't worry Annette, we're from the Government, and we're here to help you. (UPDATED)

With really, only two (one?) girl(s) as full of vinegar towards the state as could possibly be found, what was the reason to raid YFZ again?

The three remaining FLDS children under suit are Teresa Steed ? (Serena Keate?), Merrianne Jessop and one boy, a 9 10 year old. Of the three, two are directly tied to Warren, one through marriage/betrothal, that being Merrianne and the other being his son Ammon. His daughter, Teresa Jeffs, has been dropped from CPS suit. (UDPATE-It appears Ammon Jeffs has been NONSUITED, circumstances to follow.)

"Child Protective Services confirmed to the Deseret News the agency filed to have the child 'nonsuited' on Friday, leaving only two children left in the case. However, a judge may have to decide custody issues before dropping the case."

Typically, when a decision isn't going Judge Walther's way, she shoves the decision up against a weekend and "plays" FLDS parents for the duration. This was a particularly nice weekend to use, with "President's day" being on Monday, essentially Annette Jeffs, who is not the child's mother (that woman having died in 2004) has to wait out the weekend. I'm beginning to see a pattern of not waiting well on the part of the FLDS in general. They signed too many "service plans" right after the raid to get their children back when a little patience may have spared them a lot of later grief. More recently there was an anti FLDS blog site that went up and in the disorganized dither and panic surrounding it, people complained to "wordpress" and the site was taken down. Yes the site was embarrassing but the art of war says "leave it up and draw out it's publishers into the open." In the end, a lot more could have been gained by patience than by panic. Everybody should know where their towel is. So Walther, who is a consummate small town political operator, leans emotionally on the FLDS because she has had success in the past doing so. "Make 'em wait" she seems to say, "A bad day on Friday for me, is a better day on Tuesday." "Let 'em stew." And stew they do.

Here's hoping no one makes foolish concessions. The only reason to have Warren's son is that technically, he is probably the only child that should have stayed under CPS suit after the raid. His dad is in jail. The state actually had a formal responsibility to declare guardianship once his essentially orphaned state was discovered.

"San Angelo attorney Jonathan R. Davis also raised questions about Warren Jeffs, noting his criminal convictions, pending criminal cases and documents that revealed he performed underage marriages. Davis asked that either CPS or Annette Jeffs be appointed conservator over the child, with conditions, and Warren Jeffs' access to the boy limited until he reaches maturity."

This is utterly ridiculous. LIMIT access to the boy? His access is already limited. Warren may live out his life in jail in another state. The only reason Warren's access would not be limited is that Warren would not be IN jail and by the time that happens the reason for limiting his access will either be swept away through acquittal on charges and reversal of previous charges or because Warren has been let out of jail after a long time in prison and his son, who is 9, will easily be another 9 years older. An adult. Admitting something along these lines though would be admitting for instance that Merrianne Jessop is no longer in danger, for the same reasons.

"Davis wrote that the boy appears 'physically healthy and is both courteous and well-behaved.' He currently lives with Annette Jeffs and is home-schooled, according to court papers. Montford asked for that arrangement to continue, adding that if the case were to go to court she would mount a religious freedom defense.

'Annette Jeffs is free to exercise and hold her religious beliefs and raise her children according to these beliefs without government infringement,' (Annette's attorney Mindy) Montford wrote. "Respondent may also educate her children in a manner that she sees appropriate.'

Court clerks were unsure late Friday if 51st District Judge Barbara Walther had nonsuited the boy. A court hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 5. The boy's siblings were dropped a couple of weeks ago."

Having heard nothing over the weekend on this case, I'm going to guess Barbara waits until some concession is made today, or that she waits until March 5th. That day being a Thursday, she will probably decide to "think about it" overnight and will return to issue an 11th hour ruling on Friday. That ruling will be timed and handled so as to muffle the sound of the child's non-suiting and release or to make as much of a dust up as possible about some rumored abuse. There's always the possibility that she will release the child under the cloud of some huge news cycle so that no one notices. If the stock market plunges or an important figure dies or someone goes to war, figure that Warren's 9 year old will quietly be slipped through the dust to Annette.

With CPS having essentially "non-suited" all but two of the 439 children, the question of whether or not the YFZ environment is or was abusive is settled. It wasn't. Virtually every other "environment" for 439 children in this country if investigated in the same fashion, would yield more cases of abuse. Right now we have a 14 year old virgin that is threatened by a man that will be locked up for the duration of her teenage years, and a 17 year old with a child, who isn't interested in the state's help, has been openly defiant of them and will be 18 this summer. Clearly no one needed or wanted their help. A classic case of "we're from the Government, and we're here to help you."

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Half of remaining FLDS children "non suited". 19 remain.

After about a month of holding onto the remaining 37, then the remaining 36, Texas non suits about half the remaining kids.

The Deseret News - "Only 19 children remain under court jurisdiction in the custody case, Texas Child Protective Services confirmed to the Deseret News on Tuesday. Seventeen children were 'nonsuited' by a judge in San Angelo last week. It brings the total number of children dropped from court oversight to 420, excluding 26 'disputed minors,' whom CPS initially believed were underage but were later proven to be adults."

I continue to assume that one is Teresa Steed, another is Merrianne Jessop and still another may be Teresa Jeffs. That's three.

"The remaining cases include three cases in which the Department has temporary managing conservatorship of one or more children in the family," agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Tuesday. "We are continuing to provide services to these families and to work with the families to address safety concerns. Once services are completed and it is it determined by CPS that the children's safety can be assured, we will move to nonsuit."

Don't you just love it how they describe what they do as "services" as if the FLDS asked for water, garbage or sewage, and they're providing those things for them. More →

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Texas Now Has DNA from Teresa Steed's Child (UPDATED)

This is the deal, apparently, that we have been afraid that Teresa Steed made. Texas has the DNA now of her child. I'm also going to guess that at least she is not going to protest, nor her parents, how that DNA was obtained. The door is wide open to prosecute her husband. IMHO of course.

The Salt Lake Tribune (AP) (Michelle Roberts) -"Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, confirmed Monday that investigators had a search warrant and gathered a DNA swab.

Child welfare authorities have said in court filings that investigators believe the girl, now 17, was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult.

Authorities previously tried to examine and collect a sample from the baby, born June 14, but the mother refused to disclose the child's whereabouts. A standoff in court in November led to an undisclosed agreement between the two sides, but the search warrant forced the issue.

The attorney general's office is handling the prosecution of some FLDS members accused of charges including bigamy and sexual assault of a child. The Associated Press generally does not name possible victims of a sex crime.

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said authorities went to an FLDS home in the San Antonio area, where some of the families have moved since the April raid on their West Texas ranch, and collected DNA from the baby girl."

I would say the only defenses now open to the father of the child are that sexual relations did not occur in Texas (a real possibility) or Jury Nullification. I'm sick of this at the moment. I get the feeling at times that the FLDS is just lying there and taking it, and waiting until their enemies tire of hitting them. This does little to protect future generations of their people, it does little to build the civil rights of the population at large.

UPDATE: Never one to mince words, Bill implies strongly that it was a raid, not a consensual harvesting of DNA. Keep in mind that Mr. Medvecky engages in hyperbole from time to time. He has connections at YFZ I do not. If his story is taken at face value, they broke down the door and forced the collection of DNA from the child.

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Maybe not so strong? "Sealed agreement reached" with Teresa Steed

Perhaps I expected too much. It is of course, way too soon to tell as we don't know what the "sealed agreement" is. This is nauseating. Precisely who does this "sealing" protect? Ms. Steed? She's already gone out on a limb. From the San Angelo Standard-Times;

"(Teresa Steed) showed up; her infant did not.

'The baby is not here, so they have defied the court's order,' CPS attorney John Dolezal told the judge, asking to put the 17-year-old (Ms. Steed) on the stand to testify about where the infant was.

(Teresa) initially pleaded the Fifth Amendment when asked whether the baby stayed with her at her given address in San Antonio, but after consultation with Ellis, she answered that the child at one time did stay with her at that location but was not there anymore.

(Teresa) told Dolezal the baby is out of state.

'I don't know right now' the exact whereabouts of the child, she said. 'She is traveling.'

When Dolezal asked where the infant was being taken, (Teresa) shut down.

'I refuse to answer that question,' (Ms. Steed) said, and when pressed on why she refused, she said: 'I just don't want anyone to know where she is.'

Ellis then consulted with (Teresa Steed) again, and the attorney quietly told Walther (Teresa) knew the potential repercussions of refusing to answer a question when instructed to by the court.

'Ma'am, the court instructs you to answer the question,' Walther said.

'I refuse to answer,' (Teresa) replied."

Again I openly wonder how a girl can be deemed to understand the "repercussions of refusing to answer" and not be capable of forming responsible opinions about sex, reproduction, motherhood and who her sex partner will be. It may be the law, but the law is a farce. Teresa can on the one hand incriminate herself, or make herself liable or be held in contempt, and in the next moment cannot be trusted to make lucid informed decisions about motherhood? The only answer is that logically, this makes no sense unless you make it logic about the law. Namely the law can make any ridiculously contrary set of rules, and well, it's the law. It would seem to me if you could hold her responsible for her actions, you are likewise emancipating her. Then how do you gain control of her child?

"Walther recessed the court and called the attorneys into her chambers, where - as she has been known to do, especially during this case - she tersely ordered both sides to reach an agreement. Soon after, she left the courthouse."

This "take my ball and go home" behavior has been displayed by Walther before, and what has always stunned me is, that it works. The behavior of those in her courtroom suggests strong armed blackmail. How for instance, can you order people to reach an agreement. Answer? You threaten at least one of them. Do any of you suppose that Walther threatened the state? In all likelyhood she threatened to take custody of the child once it was found, and never return it to Teresa Steed. Then she gets up, says "make an agreement" and walks out.

Not knowing what "family service plan" that Teresa's parents signed, I can only theorize that if they hadn't signed one, they'd be better off right now. I still think Walther would have threatened what she threatened, whatever that was. The advantage for Teresa Steed would be that if CPS had no stake now, they'd have to gain one first, and that could take considerable time. Time during which Teresa might turn 18.

I also cannot figure how Teresa is in any way criminal in this case. There is as of yet, no evidence of a crime. There is the theory out there that Teresa's partner is an older man. Without examining the child though, how could they know that? It's a catch 22.

Now to the "sealed agreement."

"After the sides reached the agreement, Texas Ranger Sgt. Nick Hanna and an investigator from the Texas Attorney General's Office told the girl they needed to serve a search warrant, immediately after which courthouse security cleared the building, telling reporters and observers it was closed.

The warrant was for a DNA sample, said sect spokesman Willie Jessop - a move Jessop criticized, noting that samples were taken of all children by court order in April."

Ok, maybe that's all the agreement was, to get a DNA sample from Ms. Steed. Now we have disturbing parallels to Veda Keate, who had her child sampled three separate times. It would seem that Texas is trying to establish as pure DNA trail that has nothing to do with evidence collected at YFZ.

There's no way of knowing until later, but it looks as if part of the agreement was that Teresa Steed give a DNA sample. It may be that Ms. Steed also had access to something that would give a DNA sample for her child. I would love to have been there in Walther's courtroom, to verify what must have been brutal blackmail.

The only heartening evidence we have here, is that Texas continues to make moves that show it is preparing for cases that it cannot used DNA collected earlier in the year, which means they believe they could lose and evidence challenge.

My personal hope is that the child is not only out of state, but out of the country.

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A "child" leads them. Is this the Steely Will of the Helpless? Teresa Steed tells Walther "Forget it!" Tiananmen Square moves to Texas.

Mousy cowed baby factory FLDS victims have more steel in their spine than most of our leaders. I'm giving up the pretense of "Marlo" as the name is out there. Teresa Steed stands up, and is counted.

The Deseret News - " 'She is living out of state. ... I just don't want anyone to know where she is,' said the 17-year-old (Teresa Steed), who was wearing a dark blue prairie dress and her hair braided back, the typical style of female members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church."

How is this the action of someone who cannot speak for themselves? As pointed out before, if indeed 16 is too young (but it wasn't 5 years ago) then since Ms. Steed has turned 17 and could be deemed responsible enough to give consent, can't she say that retroactively, she would have given consent? If she wanted to escape her cruel husband, she could simply "break down" in a puddle and give her child up to Texas. They'd embrace her, and "protect" her as their star witness. She does not break down though, she stands like a Tiananmen Square protester and will not be moved. This is no child, this is an adult. Right or Wrong, Teresa Steed stands on her own. I guess a child will lead them. More →

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