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SAN ANTONIO — Texas authorities are seeking permanent custody of a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly married to jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, a step toward severing her parents’ rights altogether.
The girl had been placed temporarily in foster care in August after her mother refused in court to guarantee her safety. She is the only one of 439 children taken from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado to return to foster care.
Documents and photos seized from the ranch showed that Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, married the girl when she was 12. Her father, Fredrick “Merril” Jessop, is charged with illegally marrying the pair on July 27, 2006. He has not entered a plea.
