Texas

At last count, 416 children were removed from the YFZ Ranch in San Angelo, Texas. Authorities removed the children and their mothers as the result of a phone call from a 16 year old girl alleging sexual abuse. As of this entry, the girl has yet to be found. Child protective services and other agencies are struggling with the huge number of children that need to be sheltered. Each child is also entitled to legal representation. The costs for this are already above and beyond what the state and county can afford. The lack of preciseness in removing all of the children, versus identifying those who were victims, is going to create serious legal challenges for the prosecutors office. By casting a huge net over everyone, the legal and public opinion backlash may create legislation preventing such draconian measures from being take in the future. Without intending to do so, authorities may have set motions that will make prosecuting child abuse even more difficult. The images from the YFZ ranch are eerily similar to the Branch Davidian compound in 1993 which was also in Texas.