400+ Kids Taken From Polygamist Compound

By MICHELLE ROBERTS Associated Press Writer
4:53 PM CDT, April 7, 2008

ELDORADO, Texas - More than 400 children, mostly girls in pioneer dresses, were swept into state custody from a polygamist sect in what authorities described Monday as the largest child-welfare operation in Texas history.

The dayslong raid on the sprawling compound built by now-jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sparked by a 16-year-old girl's call to authorities that she was being abused and that girls as young as 14 and 15 were being forced into marriages with much older men.

Dressed in home-sewn, ankle-length dresses with their hair pinned up in braids, some 133 women left the Yearning for Zion Ranch of their own volition along with the children.

State troopers were holding an unknown number of men in the compound until investigators finished executing a house-to-house search of the 1,700-acre property, which includes a medical facility, numerous large housing units and an 80-foot white limestone temple that rises discordantly out of the brown scrub.

"In my opinion, this is the largest endeavor we've ever been involved in in the state of Texas," said Children's Protective Services spokesman Marleigh Meisner, who said she was also involved in the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.

The members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spent their days raising numerous children, tilling small gardens and doing chores. But at least one former resident says life was not some idyllic replica of 19th-century life.

"Once you go into the compound, you don't ever leave it," said Carolyn Jessop, one of the wives of the alleged leader of the Eldorado complex. Jessop left with her eight children before the sect moved to Texas.

Jessop said the community emphasized self-sufficiency because they believed the apocalypse was near.

The women were not allowed to wear red -- the color Jeffs said belonged to Jesus -- and were not allowed to cut their hair. They were also kept isolated from the outside world. They "were born into this," said Jessop, 40. "They have no concept of mainstream society, and their mothers were born into and have no concept of mainstream culture. Their grandmothers were born into it."Meisner said each child will get an advocate and an attorney but predicted that if they end up permanently separated from their families, the sheltered children would have a tough acclimation to modern life.

Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety, said the criminal investigation was still under way, and that charges would be filed if investigators determined children were abused.

Still uncertain is the location of the girl whose call initiated the raid. She allegedly had a child at 15, and authorities were looking for documents, family photos or even a family Bible with lists of marriages and children to demonstrate the girl was married to Dale Barlow, 50.

Under Texas law, girls younger than 16 cannot marry, even with parental approval.The church members were being held at Fort Concho, a 150-year-old fort built to protect frontier settlements, to be interviewed about the 16-year-old girl and whether, in fact, the teenager was among them.

DPS troopers arrested one man on a charge of interfering with the duties of a public servant during the search warrant, but it was not Barlow, Mange said. "For the most part, residents at the ranch have been cooperative. However, because of some of the diplomatic efforts in regards to the residents, the process of serving the search warrants is taking longer than usual," said DPS spokesman Tom Vinger, who declined to elaborate. "The annex is extremely large and the temple is massive.

"Barlow's probation officer, Bill Loader, told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was in Arizona. Phone messages seeking comment from Loader and Barlow were not immediately returned Monday.Barlow was sentenced to jail last year after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for three years while he is on probation.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, headed by Jeffs after his father's death in 2002, broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.

The group is concentrated along the Arizona-Utah line but several enclaves have been built elsewhere, including in Texas. Several years ago it paid $700,000 for the Eldorado property, a former exotic animal ranch, and began building the compound as authorities in Arizona and Utah began increasingly scrutinizing the group.

The compound sits down a narrow paved road and behind a hill that shields it almost entirely from view in Eldorado, a town of fewer than 2,000 surrounded by sheep ranches nearly 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Only the 80-foot-high white temple can be seen on the horizon.Jeffs is jailed in Kingman, Ariz., where he awaits trial for four counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls and their older male relatives.

In November, he was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in Utah for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in 2001.The investigation prompted by the girl's call last week was the first in Texas involving the sect.

Peterson's former wife, fiance appear before grand jury

Even though it appears that a body is found in the Chicago area every day, I have to hand it to the Grand Jury. They seem to be thoroughly and genuinely examining every piece of information surrounding this case. I remember early on when Vicki Connely said she was still afraid of Drew because he had warned her at times that he could kill her and make it look like an accident. Then when the relationship was over, he would occasionally "pop up" unexpectedly, and she would be friendly and appease him until he was gone. His response at the time was "I'm surprised to hear that. I thought we were friends." Surprise, Drew, friends don't like intimidation any more than wives. In the case of Kyle Piry, being harrassed, stalked and falsely arrested doesn't leave one with fond memories. I can only hope the information they are obtaining is substantial enough to put him away.

April 4, 2008
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOLIET, Ill.---- The second wife of Drew Peterson and his former fiance appeared before the Will County grand jury investigating the death of the former police officer's third wife and the disappearance of his current wife.

Vicki Connolly was married to Peterson for 10 years. On Thursday, she declined to discuss her appearance before the grand jury as she left the Joliet courthouse.

Kyle Piry also spoke to the grand jury. Piry has said she was engaged to Peterson in the 1980s. She told reporters after her grand jury appearance she hoped it was the last time she would be involved in the case.

Stacy Peterson vanished in October, and authorities have reopened the investigation into the 2004 death of another Drew Perterson wife, Kathleen Savio...

Peterson gets computers back

Right: Drew "I turn heads" Peterson. ew.

April 2, 2008
By JOE HOSEY Staff Writer

BOLINGBROOK -- First, he got his cars back. Now, Drew Peterson has reclaimed his computers. Drew Peterson's guns, however, remain out of his grasp.

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Peterson picked up his four computers Tuesday from the District 5 state police headquarters. They had been seized, along with his two vehicles and 11 firearms, by state police as potential evidence in the investigation of his wife's disappearance.

The wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, vanished Oct. 23. The state police have classified the case a "potential homicide" and named her husband as their only suspect.

Peterson triumphed in his court bid to regain possession of the confiscated property. But the state's attorney's office pulled an end-around to keep him from getting his guns back by convincing the state police to revoke his Firearm Owner's Identification Card.

Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, appealed the decision and said he is still working to get his client's gun card back. "I should be hearing from the Illinois state police any day now," Brodsky said, maintaining they had no grounds to pull Peterson's FOID. "The guy had a gun card since he was 17 years old," Brodsky said. "He never had an incident."

Brodsky also took a jab at Roy Taylor, the son of Stacy's best friend and next-door neighbor Sharon Bychowski, and the leader of the volunteer search effort to find the missing mom.
Brodsky accused Taylor of "drawing a salary" for his work as a volunteer "search coordinator." He said he was told the money was coming out of funds raised to subsidize the searches.

Taylor denied that he has been paid to spearhead the search effort and claimed he has been shelling out his own cash for the cause. "I'm insulted by his comments," he said. "Roy Taylor is not receiving a dime," Taylor said. "Roy Taylor has spent thousands of dollars out of his pocket to make sure this gets done."

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I'd be insulted too, but it creeps me out when a person refers to themselves in the third person.

Creator of Phony Internet Profile That Led to Teen's Suicide Speaks Out

Right: Megan Meier

The creator of phony profile on MySpace whose cruel messages may have led to the suicide of a 13-year-old suburban St. Louis girl has spoken out for the first time, admitting she created the site with the active participation of the mother of one of the dead teen's friends.

Megan Meier, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself on Oct. 16, 2006, after being dumped by "Josh," a fictitious boy created by Ashley Grills, an employee of Lori Drew, the mother of one of Megan's friends.

"We were just combining ideas about how we can figure out what Megan was saying about Lori's daughter," Grills told ABC. "It was all three of us — me and Lori and her daughter."
Grills spoke to ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, telling the network that she wrote the words "the world would be a better place without you" that may have driven Meier to take her own life.

"I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace," Grills said. Drew and her attorney deny the allegations that the mother was involved with the hoax Web profile.

Prosecutors declined to charge anyone in the case, in part because no specific laws appeared to apply. But some communities, including Megan's hometown, have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws to go after those involved in Internet bullying.

additional recent articles:

Family Shunned Over MySpace Hoax, Teen's Suicide
Friday, December 07, 2007

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. — Waterford Crystal Drive is one of those suburban streets that seem so new as to have no history at all. But the suicide of a teenage girl — and allegations she had been tormented by a neighbor over the Internet — have brought a reaction that is old, almost tribal, in its nature.

Residents on the middle-class subdivision have turned against the neighbor, Lori Drew, and her family, demanding the Drews move out. In interviews, they have warned darkly that someone might be tempted to "take matters into their own hands."

"It's like they used to do in the 1700s and 1800s. If you wronged a community, you were basically shunned. That's basically what happened to her," said Trevor Buckles, a 40-year-old who lives next door to the Drews.

Drew became an outcast after she admitted inventing "Josh Evans," a good-looking teenage boy who chatted online with 13-year-old Megan Meier. Megan received cruel messages from Josh that apparently drove her to hang herself in her closet in 2006.

Through her lawyer, Drew, a mother of two in her 40s, has denied saying hurtful things to the girl over the Internet, and prosecutors have said they found no grounds for charges against the woman. Neverthess, the community reaction has been vengeful and the pressure on the Drews intense.

Hundreds of residents gathered in front of their home on a recent evening, holding candles and reciting stories about Megan.

Last December, after neighbors learned of the Internet hoax, someone threw a brick through a window in the Drew home. A few weeks ago, someone made a prank call to police reporting that there had been a shooting inside the Drew's house, prompting squad cars to arrive with sirens flashing.

Someone recently obtained the password to change the Drew's outgoing cell phone recording, and replaced it with a disturbing message. Police would not detail the content.

Clients have fled from Drew's home-based advertising business, so she had to close it. Neighbors have not seen Drew outside her home in weeks.

Death threats and ugly insults have been hurled at Drew over the Internet, where she has been portrayed as monster who should go to prison, lose custody of her own children, or worse. Her name and address have been posted online, and a Web site with satellite images of the home said the Drews should "rot in hell."

Some of the threats "really freak me out," Buckles said while standing on his front porch after dark Tuesday night. As he spoke, a car slowed and stopped in front of Drew's home. It sat there idling for a few long minutes, then sped away. Buckles said it is a common occurrence.

"I just really hope that no one comes out here and does something insane," Buckles said. "If they do, I hope they get the right house."

Sheriff's Lt. David Tiefenbrunn said patrols have been stepped up around Drew's house. "There could be individuals out there with a vigilante-type attitude that might want to take revenge," he said.

The Drews — Lori, husband Curt and two children — live a one-story ranch. An older man at the house who described himself only as a relative said Lori Drew would not comment. He would not say if the family planned to move.

Ron and Tina Meier's home is four houses away from the Drews'. The sidewalk is curved, so the neighbors can't see each other from their front doors. The breach between the once-friendly families seems beyond repair.

"I think that what they have done is so despicable, that I think it absolutely disgusts people," Tina Meier said. "I can't take one ounce of energy worrying about who does not like Lori Drew or who hates Lori Drew. I could not care less."

Just a year ago, Waterford Crystal Drive was the kind of quiet suburban street where joggers waved hello while kids played in their front yards. Lately the road has been choked with TV news trucks, and neighbors hustle inside to avoid questions.

The row of brick-facade homes, with basketball nets and American flags out front, was carved out of the woods and pastures in the mid-1990s. Between rooftops, residents can see the neon signs of the strip mall restaurants near a highway that carries commuters some 35 miles to jobs in downtown St. Louis.

The subdivision and those surrounding it have street names evoking the good life, from Quaint Cottage Drive to Country Squire Circle.

The Drews used to fit in just fine, said John McIntyre, who described Lori Drew as an intensely social woman who never hesitated to stop and talk. She and Curt came over to McIntyre's home to look at his glassed-in porch because they were thinking of adding their own, he said.

McIntyre fondly remembered another guest — Megan. She came across the street to baby-sit McIntyre's 4-year-old daughter Genna and arrived with a clipboard and notes, determined to do the job right. He said the activity was good for Megan, who suffered from depression for years.
"She was a good kid," McIntyre said.

Megan became friends with the Drews' young daughter and the girls remained close for years, according to a report provided by prosecutors. But the girls had a falling-out in 2006.

Lori Drew and an employee, referred to only as a teenager named Ashley in the report, created a fake MySpace page so they could monitor what Megan was saying online about Drew's daughter, the report said. Ashley sent Megan most of the messages from "Josh," and Lori Drew was aware of them, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 16, 2006, there was a heated online exchange between Megan and Ashley, who was posing as Josh. It ended when "Josh" said the world would be better off without Megan.
Tina Meier said her daughter went to her room, crying and upset. About 20 minutes later, Megan was found hanging from a belt tied around her neck.

Drew's attorney Jim Briscoe said on NBC on Tuesday that Drew "absolutely, 100 percent" had nothing to do with the negative comments posted online about Megan and wasn't aware of them until after the girl took her life.

Raw Data: Drew Family Statement on MySpace Suicide

Thursday, December 06, 2007

On Friday, attorney Jim Briscoe issued the following statement from the Drew family regarding the events surrounding Megan Meier's death:

"This week, Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas issued his report concerning the death of Megan Meier. His investigation included a review of all reports of law enforcement agencies involved with this case and interviews with several of the individuals involved.

"During this investigation, the Drew family has not commented to the media. Now that the investigation is concluded, we wish to issue this statement.

"First and foremost, the Drew family mourns the death of Megan every day. They previously expressed their sympathies to the Meier family, but the Meiers have made it clear that they do not wish to speak to the Drews, and they have honored the Meier’s request.

"Contrary to statements reported in various news media around the nation in recent weeks, Lori Drew did not create or direct anyone to create the Josh Evans MySpace account.

"Although she was aware of the account, Lori Drew never sent any messages to Megan or to anyone else using this MySpace account.

"The MySpace account was in place for approximately 29 days. It is undisputed that all messages sent were positive until the last 24 hours.

"Lori Drew was not aware of any mean, nasty or negative comments made by anyone against Megan until after Megan took her own life. In fact, the first negative message was sent by a teenager from another residence, and several other negative comments were made by other teenagers at different locations. The negative comments that were sent by the teenage girl at the Drew’s residence occurred when Lori was not home.

"Lori Drew has been a high-profile target of extreme criticism for things she did not do. This has caused considerable damage to the reputation of the Drew family, both in our community and across the nation.

"The avalanche of criticism forced Lori to discontinue the advertising business she has had in the St. Charles County area for the past nine years. Lori is saddened that businesses that advertised with her company have been harassed in ways that have impacted them both professionally and personally.

"The Drew family is also sorry that their family, friends and neighbors have had to endure the stresses associated with the harassment directed toward the Drews.

"There are many accusations that various members of the Drew family have created Web sites or are participating in Internet blogs regarding this matter. The Drews have not and will not participate in any Website or blog regarding this matter.

"Any Internet message that purports to be a member of the Drew family is being managed by an imposter and undoubtedly is being done for the purpose of further damaging the Drew’s reputation."

MySpace Mom Linked to Missouri Teen's Suicide Being Cyber-Bullied Herself

The woman linked to a fake MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy created to start an Internet relationship with Megan Meier, the Missouri teen who hanged herself after receiving hurtful messages, is now believed to be the victim of a cyber-bullying impersonator herself.

And the online harassment laws that were passed after Meier's death last year now may be used to help the middle-aged woman, who many believe was responsible for the 13-year-old girl's suicide.

On Dec. 3, a blog entitled "Megan Had It Coming" carried an entry signed by Lori Drew, the woman involved in creating the fictitious profile that taunted Meier. The blog entry appeared on the same day St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas announced there wasn't enough evidence to charge anyone in connection with Meier's death.

"It's time I dropped the charade. Yes, I made this blog. Yes, I'm Lori Drew," the blogger wrote.
The posting, which recounts in chilling detail the entire Megan Meier incident, mentions Drew's daughter, who was once friends with Meier. At the time Meier was engaged in the bogus relationship on MySpace, the two girls were no longer close.

"My daughter had nothing to do with this," the blogger purporting to be Drew wrote. "Everyone needs to leave her alone. None of you can possibly know her involvement, and none of you can possibly know what she's gone through. She's just a kid. She doesn't deserve these brutal verbal attacks. Please stop."

In response to this blog and other news items about the case, angry Internet users left postings of Drew's home phone number, her business address and other personal information, urging people to tell Drew what they really think of her.

Comments on the "I Am Lori Drew" entry, many of them unsavory, numbered more than 2,500 on Thursday. "You have psychological problems," one began. "Don't burn in hell. Instead, I hope you rot in the dirt with the maggots and other disgusting vermin, since that's the only thing you deserve," another ended.

Drew's attorney, Jim Briscoe, denied that Drew had any involvement with the "Megan Had It Coming" blog.

"I can categorically say that she did not write it," Briscoe told FOXNews.com. "She has not said anything on the Internet, on any blogs, on any Internet sites."

Briscoe said that Drew, a neighbor of the Meiers, has purposely remained silent in the media and online during the investigation and since.

"That's part of why she's remained silent, so there's no confusion about that," Briscoe said.

"Anything that's on the Web is not true. She hasn't done anything. She doesn't know anybody who's done it — anybody who's doing it or has done it."

Prosecutor Banas confirmed to FOXNews.com that the St. Charles County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether the "Megan Had It Coming" blog and other postings falsely attributed to Drew have violated any online harassment laws.

On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, speaking at a national conference of law enforcement officials in St. Louis, promised to keep up the pressure against online predators who target children.

Meier hanged herself on Oct. 16, 2006, after being dumped by "Josh," a fictitious boy created by an 18-year-old employee of Drew, in order to find out what Meier was saying about the Drews' daughter.

Dardenne Prairie, Mo., Meier's hometown, has since passed a law making online harassment a misdemeanor. Her death also prompted Gov. Matt Blunt on Tuesday to call for the creation of an Internet harassment task force, with recommendations to be made to his office within 30 days.

“Megan Meier’s senseless death is a tragic lesson that social networking sites and technology have opened a new door for criminals and bullies to prey on their victims,” Blunt said in a statement. “As families and friends continue to remember Megan and celebrate her life, we must ensure that our laws have the protections and penalties needed to safeguard Missourians from Internet harassment.”

Some online readers, skeptical that the blog belonged to Drew, surmised it to be the work of an Internet "troll."

Blogger.com, which houses the blog and lists "impersonation" as one of the things banned from the site, said it has no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site.

"We take violations of Blogger's policy very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users," a spokesman for Google, Blogger's parent company, told FOXNews.com.

"Once we are notified about a blog that impersonates a person, we act quickly to remove it. We have not received an impersonation claim to date from the individual allegedly being impersonated."

Drew's lawyer said that online harassment laws could be used against those leaving messages for his client.

"I haven't seen the laws so I don't know exactly what they cover, but certainly she is being harassed by the Internet," Briscoe said. "Potentially, laws that are now being created out of this may be ones that people who are harassing her could be prosecuted [under]."

On Dec. 3, Banas said that statements from Drew and two teens who participated in the fictitious account couldn't meet criminal standards for the state's statutes on harassment, stalking or endangering the welfare of a child.

Autistic children linked to same sperm donor

By Randi Kaye
CNN

NEW YORK -- He's only 5½ years old, and yet he's practically memorized the entire New York subway grid.

He reads at the fourth-grade level, plays two-handed piano compositions and is better versed than most adults about the Fibonacci code, a complex mathematics sequence.

Dylan loves Italian music and draws pictures that artist Jackson Pollock would be proud of.
He also happens to be autistic.

Gwenyth Jackaway, Dylan's mother, is a professor at New York's Fordham University. She's single but had always wanted to have a child. So she contacted one of the largest sperm donor banks in the country.

The sperm bank doesn't reveal the identities of donors but allows people to choose based on the traits they'd like their child to have. Jackaway decided on "Donor X" because he appeared philosophical and intelligent on paper. He liked music, loved to travel and had a high IQ and a degree in economics.

What she couldn't know then is that her son would have autism. So she started to wonder whether Donor X might carry a gene that could have contributed.

The cause or causes of autism are not known and are hotly debated. Most experts believe that genetics are a component, making a child predisposed to autism or responsive to an environmental trigger.

"It's a combination of being genetically vulnerable and then having some kind of social or toxicant exposure that tips you over," according to Dr. Gary Goldstein of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Researchers have found some genetic areas associated with autism, but it could take years before the gene or genes that cause autism or contribute to it will be determined.

Until then, Geri Dawson, chief science officer for the Manhattan-based advocacy group Autism Speaks, says there's no way to screen for those genes and prevent them from being passed to a child.

"We wouldn't be able to screen a donor for autism because we don't yet know the specific genes that are contributing to autism," Dawson said. "But there is a lot of research going on, and I would say in the next five to 10 years, we will have identified between five and 10 genes that we know raise the risk for autism."

Once the autism gene or genes have been identified, it would theoretically be possible to screen for those genes, according to Dawson.

Jackaway says she went into a period of mourning when Dylan's autism was diagnosed at age 2.

"When you're handed a diagnosis of some sort of developmental disorder, you have to let go of the child you thought you were going to have," Jackaway said. "There's a sense of loss of the child, a grieving process. There's denial, there's rage, and then there's the tremendous sadness, and hopefully you get to a place of accepting."

Jackaway says she had to accept that "I don't have that child I thought I was going to have. But I have this child instead, who's right here in front of me."

Through a Web site called Donor Sibling Registry, she reached out to other women who used Donor X. She found six families who had used the same donor.

Two years ago, she visited Theresa Pergola in the New York area; she had given birth to triplets using sperm from Donor X. Just minutes into their meeting, Jackaway noticed Pergola's son, Joseph, 2, exhibiting some of the same behavior as her son.

"He was walking on his toes; he was flapping his hands. There seemed to be eye contact issues," recalled Jackaway, who immediately suggested screening Joseph for autism.

"She told me that she saw characteristics of autism, and it was very upsetting to me at that time," Pergola said. "I didn't know what to expect from that point on. I know I was scared, and she was there to let me know that it was going to be OK."

Pergola says she was afraid because she had an image of autism in her head and believed her son would be "in the corner and rocking and not talking."

She says Jackaway reassured her that wouldn't be the case.

One month later, a test confirmed what Pergola already knew: Joseph was autistic. The diagnosis brought her to tears, and now these two women whose sons share a father were immediately connected by another bond: autism.

"She was terribly upset," Jackaway remembered. "That moment is a terribly frightening moment. You get handed a diagnosis, and you get handed an entirely new future."

In six families Jackaway contacted that had used Donor X, three of the children are autistic, and one is showing signs of autism.
But would Jackaway be happier today if there had been a way to screen Donor X for an autism gene?

"I've done a lot of thinking about this, and to say yes to that is to say that I wish Dylan isn't Dylan," Jackaway said. "I love my son and everything about him, and that means loving his autism also. Loving your children means loving everything about them. Our children don't have autism; they are autistic. It's part of who they are."

Pergola says she's still uncertain about an autism screening process, if and when it becomes available.

"It can go either way. On the one hand, it could be helpful so that people could make choices about what risks they want to take," Pergola said. "On the other hand, it's like, what else are they going to screen for, you know? Are they going to screen for certain personality traits? It's hard to say. It's really hard to say."

The families don't blame the sperm bank. Since the discovery of autism in the families that used Donor X, his samples have been removed and are no longer available for reproduction.