(May 13, 2008)—State welfare workers Tuesday took into custody a newborn whose mother is a member of a West Texas polygamist sect.
The child is the second baby born in state custody since state authorities raided the West Texas compound of the renegade Mormon Church in April.
The total number of children in custody now totals 465.
The newborn's mother has been in state custody and is being treated as a minor.
Patricia Matassarin, an attorney for the newborn's father, said the mother is 22 and should not be in state custody.
The mother’s age is in dispute.
Rod Parker, an attorney for the church, accuses the state of deliberately holding a pregnant mother it knew was over age so it could take the baby into custody upon birth.
State officials say LDS members gave conflicting information about names and ages.
A state district judge issued an injunction preventing CPS from moving the newborn and mother from Travis County until a hearing Thursday, in which father Dan Jessop will request his wife and three children be released from state custody.

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