COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A Colorado woman with a history of making false police reports used a telephone number that was later used to report alleged abuse at a polygamist retreat in Texas, a court document says.
It’s not yet clear whether authorities suspect Rozita Swinton, 33, of Colorado Springs made any of the calls that triggered the April 3 raid of the compound.
Texas authorities have said a 16-year-old girl called a crisis center claiming she was abused at the compound. Authorities have not found that girl but say they have found evidence other children were abused.
An arrest warrant affidavit made public Wednesday says calls to a Texas crisis center were made from Colorado Springs-area cell phone numbers before authorities raided the compound and removed more than 400 children. One of the numbers was connected to Swinton. It wasn’t known when the particular number was used.
In February, a woman calling herself “Jennifer” called 911 in Colorado Springs from the same number, claiming that her father had locked her in her basement for days, the document said. Swinton was arrested in connection with that incident on April 16 and later released.
Two Texas Rangers accompanied Colorado Springs police when they searched Swinton’s home April 16. Texas authorities said the search turned up several items suggesting a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding compounds in Texas and Arizona owned by the Mormon sect, called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The items weren’t identified.
After the search, Texas authorities called Swinton a “person of interest” in the Texas case.
Swinton’s whereabouts are unknown, and it isn’t known if she has an attorney.
Colorado Springs police have declined comment on the Texas case.
The document released Wednesday shows Swinton had an extensive record in Colorado Springs of posing as a troubled teen and making false claims.
It links Swinton to calls made throughout October from a “Dana Anderson.” The caller claimed to be a young woman being abused by her pastor at Colorado Springs’ New Life Church, and later as a 13-year-old student at Liberty High School who said she was being drugged and sexually abused by her father.
Officers linked the calls to Swinton in March after a Colorado Springs counselor got someone named Dana Anderson to acknowledge that her first name was Rozita.
In mid-April, Texas Rangers called Colorado Springs Police regarding their investigation into the Yearning for Zion Ranch.
Texas Ranger Brooks Long asked about two telephone numbers, both with Colorado Springs area codes. One of the phone numbers, the document says, “was possibly related to the reporting party for the YFZ Ranch incident,” and was one of the numbers police had connected to Swinton.
According to Long, investigators are also pursuing a series of calls to the Newbridge Family Shelter beginning March 29 by a woman who called herself Sarah Barlow. The woman claimed to live at the compound and was being physically and sexually abused by her husband.
The document addresses the use of several phone numbers linked to prepaid cell phones that are often registered to a false identity or to none at all. It mentions dozens of calls made to crisis centers in Texas and Washington state concerning the sect.
Other calls were made to police and a crisis hot line in Colorado Springs. None of those calls concerned the sect.
Since March 30, Swinton had been talking to Flora Jessop, executive director of the Child Protection Project, a Phoenix-based organization that helps girls and women leaving the polygamous culture. A former member of the FLDS church, Jessop recorded nearly 40 hours of conversation with Swinton, who said her name was Laura, and contacted law enforcement.
“She claimed to be the twin sister of Sarah, who made the initial call in Texas,” said Jessop.
Swinton got most of the details of the sect right, Jessop said. She knew specifics of the religion and culture, used common FLDS surnames and provided specific addresses of homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where she said she was being held.
“She was good,” said Jessop. “Apparently she was doing her research.”
Other things—calling her parents “Mom” and “Dad” instead of “Mother” and “Father” as the FLDS do—were suspicious, Jessop said.
Authorities in Colorado say Swinton has a history of making false reports.
She was arrested in Castle Rock, Colo., in 2005 after she contacted an adoption center and authorities, claiming to be a 16-year-old name Jessica who was suicidal after giving birth.
Over the course of three days “Jessica” told the adoption agency she planned to leave her child at a fire station and use a gun to kill herself, Castle Rock Police Lt. Douglas Ernst said.
When authorities caught up to her, they learned her name was not Jessica and she did not have a child or a gun.
“The investigator … was surprised at her age because she sounded like someone who was in mid to late teens even thought she was 30,” Ernst said.
Documents related to Swinton’s arrest were sealed by a judge at the request of Texas authorities. The Associated Press filed a motion to unseal the records Monday. The arrest warrant affidavit was released Wednesday, but the arrest report and details on the search of Swinton’s apartment remained under seal.
