So: 31 pregnant teens/mothers means up to 31 FLDS men who should be in jail

[pnwmom]

And I wonder how many children all these men have fathered?

[Breeze54]

1. Not necessarily....

It doesn't take that many to impregnate 31...

[pnwmom]

12. Yes, necessarily. I said "up to."

Yup, I did.

[Breeze54]

39. Take a

fucking chill pill!! Gheesh!

[brokensymmetry]

2. 31? Nooo....

Probably a lot less.

Maybe someone should start a poll.

What if it's ONE?

[dubeskin]

4. Then High-Five to Him!

That was just horrible. I can't believe I tried to make this into humor.

But regardless, it's just horrible what's happening throughout this whole fiasco. I mean, how did this even exist for so long without real investigation? I'm just proud of that one girl who told the help hotline what was happening.

[ColbertWatcher]

24. Making jokes is no laughing matter. n/t

[HuffleClaw]

3. or just one really busy man n/t

[tekisui]

5. They're polygamists.

Could be 10 or 20 that can be proven guilty through DNA.

[pnwmom]

19. And all we may have is some unidentified DNA -- connecting children

and mothers but with unidentified fathers.

Then the question is -- is there a way to make the mothers identify their "spiritual" husbands?

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

45. DNA candistinguish between siblings

I don't think this cult is going to be a problem

[mike_c]

6. probably fewer than 31....

If you know what I mean.

[pnwmom]

14. yeah, that's why I said "up to."

I'm not one of those who thinks it's just a couple of men, though. If I were betting, I'd guess more than 20.

[uppityperson]

7. Hopefully DNA testing will show how many and who they were.

[pnwmom]

16. How many, but probably not who they were -- unless at least some of

the mothers identify the men.

[rwheeler31]

8. Why did they let this go on for so long?

[seabeyond]

15. their constitutional right..... to be fuckin the children, havent you heard

:sarcasm:

[corporatemedia]

9. I sure hope Ben Stein makes another one of those great movies about this tragedy.

[eppur_se_muova]

36. So you've heard ... ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3219935&mesg_id=3219935

[jody]

10. I agree and also the father of every baby of an underage girl In the US. n/t

[pnwmom]

17. Every single rapist should be prosecuted. But I wouldn't prosecute

any similarly aged teen boy who got a teenage girl pregnant (as long as she consented to sex). Would you?

[uppityperson]

18. It depends on the situation.

[pnwmom]

20. Of course -- I was assuming that the girl was consenting. n/t

[jody]

26. Interesting point but what about consensual sex if the male is older than the girl? It is possible

that one of the girls in this case could have been brainwashed such that sex was consensual.

Would you approve of that?

I don't believe I would. :shrug:

[pnwmom]

28. No, I wouldn't -- if it's an older male, it's statutory rape. n/t

[uppityperson]

37. Still illegal. It is up to the older person to make sure they follow the law.

Even if a 14 yr old said sex was fine, the male, if older than the law says is legally allowed, is still guilty of statutory rape.

[seabeyond]

21. jody... you are defending the right of church per constitution to have sex with youth

correct?

isnt that your argument.

the constitution says freedom of religion. and sex with their young girls is part of their religion. isnt that your argument?

[jody]

23. No, I abhor the situation where underage girls are impregnated and will not accept any distinction

between the men who hide behind a religious group and any other man.

[seabeyond]

25. thank you for hte clarification. i am all for old men who get girls preg outside of religion

to be busted too....

thank you for the clarification. i am glad i asked about your position.

[pnwmom]

29. I misunderstood your earlier point.

There have been others who attempted to minimize what the FLDS men have done, by comparing it to teenage girls and teenage boys sneaking off and having sex. So I was thinking you were being ironic when you talked about prosecuting all the guys who impregnated underage girls.

But I agree -- no one should be able to get away with sexually abusing or raping teens and hide behind their religion.

[jody]

33. I believe you and I agree. Have a peaceful evening.

:hi:

[pnwmom]

35. You, too, jody.

Back at you.


:hi:

[uppityperson]

38. I agree with you here also.

[slackmaster]

11. Yes, it's no wonder none of those men are hiring lawyers to help get custody of their kids back

They'd be admitting to wrongdoing.

[Marrah_G]

13. Not only that, but the mothers lie when getting state and federal aid

They swear they don't know who the father is and the fathers are NOT on the birth certificates.

[slackmaster]

41. I know a few non-FLDS welfare moms who have done that

Usually to ensure that the sperm donor in question stays out of their lives.

[Marrah_G]

44. Yup- me too

[BlooInBloo]

22. Also depends on how old the males were, no?

[jody]

27. How much age difference would matter? n/t

[BlooInBloo]

30. If the males were 15 or whatever, like the females, that's a different thing...

... in my book, at any rate.

[jody]

34. I guess I would rely upon state law although I believe states have rather different laws. n/t

[dysfunctional press]

47. there's no way the old guys in charge would let a 15 year-old male have one of the young wives...

from what i understand, a lot of times the teenaged males are driven out of the compounds because the old guys don't want the competition. kinda like in the animal world.

[pnwmom]

31. In the history of that sect, young men are rarely "given" wives.

They have to earn them. But yes, legally, if the male in a spiritual marriage was very close in age to his underage wife, then he might not be guilty of statutory rape.

[BlooInBloo]

32. Ah - ok. I'm not that up on the details of the folks. Just covering all the bases. :)

[MountainLaurel]

40. It's like a breeding house for humans

A telling figure from CNN:

Of those 463 children, 250 are girls and 213 are boys. Children 13 and younger are about evenly split -- 197 girls and 196 boys -- but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range.

[Marrah_G]

42. This ranch was used for a very specfic purpose

The biggest was that the age of consent in their main city (Colorado City, AZ)is 18. So they ship the girls to Texas where it is younger and they are less known.

The boys sent there are the favored boys, the boys the men weren't using up and throwing out after making money off their day labor. Boys related closely to the leaders. Boys they were grooming to follow in their foot steps.

Originally represented as a hunting retreat to the local authorities, the cult now acknowledges they built the compound to get away from the AGs in Utah and AZ who were becoming more aggressive.

[seabeyond]

43. exactly what it feels to me like. for old farts to prey on..... n/t

[janetle]

46. Yep, saw this, too--Where are the boys!!!!

[dysfunctional press]

48. many get run-off when they hit puberty...

old dudes don't like the competition.

[dkofos]

49. Actually it could be 10 or less men.