The authorities have so far said that they believe there are 5 women around 18 years of age who may be pregnant. They believe.
Springs woman may have posed as abused cult member
By Kirk Mitchell The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 04/18/2008 04:08:29 PM MDT
Rozita Swinton was arrested on a charge of false reporting in February. (Colorado Springs Police) Related A former polygamist sect member says a Colorado Springs woman who called her posing as a young abused girl could be the same person whose complaints led to a massive child protection raid in West Texas.
Flora Jessop, a former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member, said she first received a call from a woman, since identified as Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, claiming to be an abuse victim named Sarah on March 30.
Authorities say a girl with the same name called a San Angelo, Texas, hotline March 29, claiming she was 16 and "spiritually married" to a man who would "beat and hurt her" whenever he became angry.
But the hotline call wasn't publicized until after authorities raided the YFZ Ranch in
False Report?
- Browse a slide show of images from the raid on the polygamous sect.
- Discuss alleged false reporting by a Colorado Springs woman which may be linked to the raid on a polygamous sect in Texas.
- Watch video about the hundreds of childrens taken into protective custody in the Texas raid.
- Watch video about the discovery by Texas Rangers of a bed in the polygamist compound's temple.
Eldorado, Texas, on April 4. There they took custody of more than 400 children. "It does kind of indicate (Swinton) made those calls," Jessop said. "There was no press on it at the time."
Swinton, 33, was arrested at her home Wednesday evening on charges of false reporting in two Colorado cases, but Texas Rangers were present for the arrest, Colorado Springs police said.
Texas Rangers spokesman Tom Vinger said today he could not comment about Swinton.
Jessop, who operates a rescue mission for teenage girls trying to escape the sect, said she recorded between 30 to 40 hours of daily phone conversations with Swinton, who alternately claimed to be Sarah, Sarah's twin sister Laura, and Laura's friend.
"She initially said her name was Sarah and she was sexually abused by her new dad," Jessop said.
Swinton would call Jessop after 8:30 p.m. at night and speak in a subdued voice because she said that is when others in the compound were sleeping.
"She was very convincing," Jessop said. "She very much thought this out." The person obviously had studied the FLDS culture, she said.
Jessop became suspicious and contacted the Texas Rangers after the same person, who sounded like a frightened young girl, called saying she was Sarah's sister, who lived in Colorado City.
Jessop sent recordings to the Texas Rangers, who traced the calls to Swinton's phone.
Colorado Springs police arrested Swinton on local charges involving calls in February in which she claimed to be an abused child being held in a basement.
Swinton also was arrested on a fugitive warrant from Douglas County relating to another false reporting case, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
In that case, Det. Sgt. Scott Claton said an adoption agency reported June 21, 2005, that a woman identifying herself as Jessica called, saying she was considering giving up her baby for adoption.
She later left a letter on the agency's door saying she changed her mind and was considering leaving the infant at a fire station and committing suicide.
A detective called a number provided by the agency and spoke with the woman for five hours. She claimed to be at a hotel with the infant, but police never learned where she was.
The woman called back two days later and said she was then looking at a police officer at their station at 100 Perry St. in Castle Rock, Claton said. Police saw a woman drive by in a Kia Sephia and later stopped her.
The woman, who was actually Swinton, voluntarily returned to the station and spoke to police for a half hour, Claton said.
"As it turns out, there was no newborn child or a weapon that she was going to hurt herself with," he said. "We never did find out what her reasoning was because she wouldn't talk about that."
The fire department picked the woman up and left her at a hospital for a voluntary mental hold because she indicated she suicidal, Claton said.
Swinton was released from the hospital the next day, he said.
Swinton was charged June 28, 2005, with obstructing police and making a fake police report. She pleaded guilty to the false reporting charge and is currently serving a one-year deferred judgment in the case, according to Douglas County Court records.
The 16-year-old named Sarah who called the Texas abuse hotline claimed she was beaten and raped by her 50-year-old polygamist husband.
Shari Pulliam, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, acknowledged that officials have not identified the girl who made that call.
But she said the state didn't remove children from the compound based solely on that call. Investigators visited the FLDS compound and discovered troubling conditions there, including numerous young girls who were pregnant or had children. That was the basis for removing kids, she said.
A judge ordered the search of the polygamous compound in Eldorado, 40 miles south of San Angelo. Texas officials say they believe the child does exist.
The state took legal custody of 416 children, who are being housed at two sites in San Angelo, about 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Another 139 women voluntarily left the compound operated by the Mormon splinter group.
Though announcing the Rangers' involvement, Colorado Springs police declined to elaborate on the Texas link, and records in Swinton's Colorado Springs case have been sealed by a judge.
"The Texas Rangers were in Colorado Springs ... as part of their investigation involving the compound in Texas," a Colorado Spring police news release said.
