Gideon Barlow is Dan Barlow’s youngest son. Dan Barlow was the Mayor of Colorado City, and is now a “lost boy” too. Gideon is a good friend of my nephew who he took off with. They lived with my “lost boy” brother in Salt Lake. I am not sure but I think they both now live with Joni and Carl John (my brother), and have been either “emancipated” or their parents have given custody of them to Joni. I do not know his mother, but my sister (mother of his friend) talks to her son whenever he wants.

The 14 year old girl I saw get married had an affair with her boyfriend a year before. The 15 year old girl I saw get married was not illegal. (Yet, as marriage is getting to be more and more of a crime to people)

Flora’s first and last kidnapping was of my sister and her friend. Flora’s own foundation in St George abandoned her when they saw them on TV. Contact Jay Beswick and Bob Curran. (They may be back now, as no charges were ever filed)

My father’s heart is much bigger than mine, as I was on the side of his lawyer. Is the statute of limitations up yet, and can I press charges myself? (Now it would be a “Flora-esqe” publicity stunt)

This is actually part of the FLDS religion “unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also” That is the reason my father didn’t press charges. He knew Fawn wanted to go party with her brothers, and he only wanted her safe, when he found she was at Carl’s house and not with her boyfriend, he stopped worrying. I admit my father is a much better man than I.

I am very open to hearing other viewpoints. But if you want me to believe them, you really have to give me some kind of evidence. Other sources from people previously unassociated with the FLDS. Police records. Articles from a major newspaper confirming that the Lost Boys safehouse is a really just Party Central for rebellious teenagers, for instance. I don’t know how I can say this more plainly. You are not an independent witness and you have a lot to gain from saying good things about the FLDS, therefore, someone who is not an FLDS sympathizer needs to back you up. I am not asking such a huge thing here.

I’m not sure what you want to accomplish with the link to the census of FLDS people who were removed, but I quoted that very list in my original blog post, so it’s not exactly damning.

As far as young teenage girls getting married, you say that the 14- and 15-year-old girls you saw getting married were very consenting. I’m glad they were happy with it and all, but that does not change the fact that it is illegal. They cannot legally consent to marriage. At all.

What you say about your sister is confusing. You say that pressing charges against Flora Jessop to get Fawn back would have done no good, and that your father just wanted her to be safe. If he felt she was safe without any parental guidance, then why all the calls to the police about her running away to hang out at the Lost Boys “party house”?

Moreover, if (a big if) Flora Jessop was spreading lies about your entire community and kidnapping teenagers, then that’s more than big-hearted of your father to forgive–that’s absurdly short-sighted. If you have just cause to prosecute but don’t do it, don’t be surprised if she continues to do exactly what she has been doing. The fact that Flora Jessop has not been successfully prosecuted for any of the things you accuse her of, much less slander or libel, tells me a great deal about the dearth of evidence your community has to present.

And if you have no desire to “trash” Flora, then you might want to reconsider some of your statements, because you have well and truly trashed her with comments such as these:

Flora Jessop and Carolyn Blackmore, on the other hand, are poor spiteful women who lie for a living.

She became a bar dancer and she had a daughter by one of her customers. But that didn’t pay as good as what she does now; telling whoppers.

I’d hate to have you feel sorry for me the way you feel sorry for Flora Jessop.

Finally, in regards to the comparisons to Nazi concentration camps that mental health workers made in their reports:

I have said from the beginning that this whole thing was poorly handled. Horribly handled, even. It’s a bad idea to separate young children from mothers if the fathers are the ones who are suspected of abuse. If the state felt they absolutely had to do something drastic (and I don’t think “drastic” was even remotely necessary), then they should have made sure the men were removed from the ranch and left the women and children there. The local court system and foster care network are totally inadequate to deal with a case of this scope in any kind of timely manner, which is also likely the reason no charges have been filed yet.

While Nazi Germany comparisons are way, way over the top, there is still no excuse for the way the FLDS women and children have been treated. It’s outrageous. Unconscionable.

At the same time, though, evidence strongly supports the existence of the Lost Boys, and therefore—as I said in the original blog post—I can’t be sorry that an investigation is taking place, no matter how badly it’s been handled. I’m sure those teenage boys were pretty upset about being taken away from their families too, and not by any heartless state agency, but because their families rejected them on the orders of the Prophet.

I apologize for interfereing with your desire to vilify a church, I thought maybe you were open to the other side of the story. This will be my last word on your blog. I don’t know what evidence or documentation you need to believe me, but I don’t think you want to anyway.

Here is the list from the FLDS website showing the census of those being held in captivity:
http://www.captivefldschildren.org/Counts.php

I do not know about the quantity of the underage girls marrying adults on the ranch, I only can say that the two girls in my life that I saw getting married at 15 and 14 were monogomous marriages to young men under 20, and they were very consentual. I can also say that my parents only let one of my sisters get married under 18. If there was three, as the “evidence” that has been entered into the court of public opinion and not any other court shows (not protected as it should be in America), there are three men who should be arrested and charged, yet they still have not. Until 2005 Texas law allowed 16 year olds to get married, but I don’t know what they would be charged with now.

As far as my father is concerned, he is very kind and has not a spiteful bone in his body. He wanted to see Fawn safe, and pressing charges against Flora would have done nothing for Fawn. Fawn was hiding from her parents, and we Flora was helping. Flora and Joni held a press conference within hours of the state giving my parents back custody of Fawn, telling the whole world that CPS would not “protect” Fawn from her parents and Fawn had fled from her “safe house” in Phoenix. The court in Phoenix actually ordered Flora to stay away from Fawn. Flora said on camera that she had no idea where Fawn was. It was when she turned up at Joni’s house in Utah a few weeks later that Fawn contacted her mother and relieved the situation as far as her parents were concerned. This was over 5 years ago.

I am not angry with Flora, I have no desire to “trash” her and never did. In fact I think it “might” be credible that she was molested when she was young. That is the only thing I did not find evidence against. Her eldest brother was excommunicated a long time ago and I don’t know why. Her father was excommunicated about 8 years ago too and I don’t know why. It his her “expert” advice to Texas and the horrid campaign of torturing children that has prompted me to write my blog. It wasn’t easy, because I actually feel sorry for her.

The “done” thing was called Nazi-ish by some of the state workers themselves.
http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_9238520 (the reports are PFD’s linked from there)

Farewell

No, you implied that women who are over 18 lied about being underage just so they could stay with their children. Meaning what, that there weren’t really underage mothers? Glad we cleared that up.

As for the age of their husbands:

Texas officials focused on five girls who conceived when they were 15 or 16, all of whom then gave birth recently when they were 16 or 17. According to the bishop’s record, three of those teenagers are in plural relationships with men who are 28, 35 and 40. One teenager, who is pregnant, is not listed on the records. And one is shown as being in a monogamous marriage to a 22-year-old man. (source)

The husbands aren’t exactly grandpas, but they don’t exactly qualify for the Romeo and Juliet clause either.

And I’m terribly sorry that the Bishop’s record is sacred, but it’s evidence. As far as the Nazi comment, please try not to Godwin yourself. It’s just not the done thing.

In your blog post about your sister Fawn, you say that your parents called the police multiple times, that Flora Jessop lied about Fawn being abused and whatnot, and that the CPS dropped all charges after your father was found innocent. You say that custody was returned to your parents, yet Flora continued to keep Fawn away.

Now here’s the part that is downright bizarre to me: your father’s lawyer advised him to press charges against Flora Jessop and everyone else involved, but your father forgave them all and just wanted Fawn to be happy. What?

It’s amazing how someone can be angry enough to trash Flora Jessop online, but not angry enough (or aware enough of the effect on your public image) to actually press charges against her when it’s a slam dunk.

And don’t talk to me about preconceived beliefs: I bow before evidence. Actual evidence. Your personal recollection, unsupported by any document or independent corroboration, is not evidence.

The Bishops record is one of the most sacred document in the church. The fact that it is even released to the public without anyone being charged with anything is nothing short of Nazi tactics.

As to the content of that post:

The fact that underage girls are having babies is not just a matter of social workers guestimating girls’ ages; it’s a fact proven by census records recovered from the YFZ Ranch that were updated by the FLDS elders (source).

And as for the Lost Boys and the women who have spoken out against the FLDS, all I see in your links is posts from your blog with absolutely zero supporting documentation. Zilch. And I have already addressed why I cannot trust you as a credible source.

I know most of the “lost boys” who were in the news personally. Just read my posts about them. And read the post from the FLDS mother. That is the truth. There were two or three who were “underage” who were shown the door, but they had older brothers who left and they spent most of their time with them anyway. The rest were “Adult men” like myself.

“The numbers just dont add up”
Did you know that 26 of the women they added to the “underage” group were considered that by looking at them? Dispite their state issued ID’s? And would you argue much with the state if they said you were underage and could stay with your children?

About calling the police, they were called many times, but the only one that made the news was Fawn. Maybe you didn’t notice what happened when my parents called the police looking for their “lost girl”?

Flora Jessop didn’t start her “career” as an expert until her sister went back home. Carolyn Blackmore didn’t start hers until her daughter went back home. These women are so angry that their relatives chose to go back to the church that they have become vicious, there is no lie they will not tell. Merril Jessop has, and does pay child support for his children. If Carolyn wanted, he would have bought her a house to live in anywhere she wanted. But she hates his guts because her daughter went home. Read my post called “Experts”

I wouln’t even be out here writing all this except for the innocent little children that suffer because of this raid, and perhaps partially because of me. I was not mistreated, and neither was Flora or Carolyn. And I want everyone to know it.

The only evidence you even want to accept as “credible” are those that correspond to your preconcieved beliefs. Maybe I have changed your mind a little, but it isn’t my fault if I haven’t.