US: Sect parents in court for massive custody fight

The parents of the more than 400 children taken from a polygamist sect’s ranch are in a US court as part of an enormous custody case.

Hearings began in Texas today, with parents laying out their individual cases and finding out what they must do to regain custody.

Texas child welfare authorities have 463 children in foster care. They were taken amid allegations that members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were forcing underage girls into marriage and sex at the sect’s compound in Eldorado. FLDS members deny any abuse.

The massive case is stretching the legal and child welfare resources of the state. The hearings are set for all five courtrooms in the Tom Green County Court over the next three weeks.