Banished by Jeffs, ex-FLDS father hopes to get custody of his YFZ ranch kids.

[pnwmom]

http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=c7ea64a0-da1b-4f62-a73f-cd5d024922f8

Sterling Harker couldn't believe it. He was following news coverage on the internet of the raid of the YFZ Ranch and there she was: Phyllis. She was decrying the raid that took all 416 children from the polygamous community. Phyllis is Sterling's ex-wife. She and at least two of their children - both girls and both minors - were living at the ranch. He had no idea. He remembered, "She was bawling and pleading her case. I guess I should have been more sensitive, but I thought, what goes around comes around. She's crying; I cried. It's hard on her; it was hard on me."

With his daughters caught in the child custody mess in Texas, Sterling represents another class of parent that may have to be given standing in the court that ultimately decides the fate of the 416 children being held by Texas Child Protective Services. It's not just the people on the ranch who have a stake in what happens to the children. There in fact be several men from Colorado City who's families were taken away and sent to Texas.

Back in the late 90s, Sterling Harker made it known that he was opposed to marriages between underage girls and older men. He says that put him on Warren Jeffs' "blacklist." Jeffs would eventually take away his two wives and children and kick him out of the FLDS sect. "He just cuts people off," Sterling said. "No remorse, No consideration. Ruthless."

But with the state of Texas now in control, Sterling has at least a faint hope that he can get custody of his two youngest daughters, LaDonna, 13, and Shauna, 11. The child welfare system in Texas favors relatives over foster care as long as the children are kept from the abusive environment. Sterling still lives among the FLDS, but he no longer is a member of the sect. "All I can say is that I'm the biological father. I love my family. I have always loved them."

SNIP

[seabeyond]

1. and in texas, panhandle anyway. ... it does not automatically side with mother

i have seen three child custody and father has as much weight as mother, so that is good for him too.

[Warpy]

4. I know women whose chilren were awarded to their fathers

and in each case, the women were fine parents. The children just voiced a request to go with Dad when the marriage broke up.

In all cases, she was still Mom and kept close contact with the kids. I contrast this with too many of my divorced male acquaintances who seem to feel that since the kids are out of sight, they can be put out of mind and haven't kept contact with them.

Yes, I know more dads who do keep contact with the kids after the divorce, but I know of only one woman who didn't, and there were drugs and an abusive boyfriend involved there. If she ever finds her way out of that situation, she'll quite likely go back to being Mom.

[kestrel91316]

2. He probably has a pretty good chance of getting them. There will

be tremendous pressure to place these kids with FAMILY, which is only right. I wish him luck.

[SoCalDem]

3. The have to do DNA tests on ALL the people to see just who is whom

of course there's been a lot of inbreeding, so even that might not be definitive.. there could be a ton of Cousin-Uncle-Daddies & Sister-Momma-Grandmas:eyes:

Regardless, those men should be prosecuted for sex-slave-imprisonment/brainwashing & pedophilia

[ourbluenation]

5. question - how do you live among them but not be in the cult?

no judging the guy - I just want to know how that works. anyone know?

[TomInTib]

6. I thought it strange, as well.

Those folks are flat-out weird.

[pnwmom]

7. As I understand it,

in his area there isn't a single compound -- there are actual towns, that are heavily (but not exclusively) populated by sect members. And some former members of the sect have been able to get legal settlements with the UEP (the entity that manages the sect-owned land) to give them property when they voluntarily give up membership or are forced out.