By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - State officials investigatingallegations of sexual abuse of young girls at a polygamistranch in Texas said on Friday they obtained a DNA sample fromWarren Jeffs, the leader of the breakaway Mormon sect.
Jeffs is in Arizona serving a prison sentence of 10 yearsto life for being an accomplice to rape by forcing a14-year-old to marry her cousin.
"In the search warrant you will see that evidence wascollected that Jeffs married four young girls," said JerryStrickland of the Texas Attorney General's Office. "Two12-year-olds, a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old. All of thesemarriages took place at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Texas."
The search warrant alleges that Jeffs, 52, was at the YFZRanch on several occasions when young girls at the ranch arebelieved to have become pregnant.
On Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled the stateoverstepped its authority when it removed about 460 childrenfrom the ranch last month.
The ruling paves the way for the children to be reunitedwith their parents. Local television stations were reporting onFriday that children may return to their parents as early asMonday.
The high court left child welfare authorities the option ofseeking court-imposed restrictions on family reunificationswhere there is cause for concern. Those restrictions couldinclude orders not to take the children out of the state whileinvestigations continue.
Texas child welfare officials have charged that underJeffs' direction and leadership, leaders of the FundamentalistChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints trained young girlsto become "spiritual brides" of older men.
Records seized at the ranch indicate that some men who livethere admit to having up to seven wives and dozens of children.
(Writing by Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by PeterCooney)
