(May 9, 2008)--A bishop's records that were taken from a polygamist sect whose West Texas compound state authorities raided last month are helping untangle the spider-web network of family relationships in the group.
Authorities removed more than 460 children last month from the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado in response to allegations the youngsters were abused.
The children are now in foster care, including almost 50 who are housed at Waco’s Methodist Children’s Home.
The Associated Press reported the bishop's records offer some insight into the intricate culture of the group, in which men related to the sect's prophet, Warren Jeffs, enjoyed favored-husband status.
An AP analysis shows that by the time a girl reached 16, she was more likely to be married than to live as a child in her father's household.
The bishop's records, which court officials released last week, include 37 families totaling 507 individuals.
At the time the lists were written from March through August of 2007, most of the people were living at the YFZ Ranch, though others were in homes along the Utah-Arizona line.
AP reports two-thirds of listed households were polygamous and that the brothers of Jeffs and a senior elder claimed the most wives, as many as 21 in one case.
The husbands and wives were married in the sect, but none is believed to hold a Texas marriage license.
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