The PROBLEM here, is that they rounded up over 400 kids, based on the allegations of one. That is the illegal thing here. That is NO DIFFERENT, than say, CPS gets called to my house for allegations of abuse....then they come over and take YOUR KIDS, because you live right next door to me, and your kid MIGHT have been abused, or in danger of future abuse. THAT is the BS.
Group communal homes
are different than adjacent homes in a normal residential neighborhood. Especially since the abuse in question stems form the culture/religious beliefs of the group that established the communal home. As for the possibility of future abuse, if you rape your daughter I think it's reasonable to take your
other daughter, and probably your son, away as well. The likelihood of you assaulting them as well is high enough to justify it. In the context of a group communal home whose members (allegedly) facilitate such abuse, I'd say taking
all the children from the compound is not entirely unreasonable. While not entirely analogous, the two situations are not entirely different either. At least taking them temporarily, while the investigation is underway.
Also, are you sure they were rounded up solely on the allegations of one? That there were
no ongoing investigations beforehand? Because you'd have to have some
serious insider information to know that, considering that at this point even press accounts seem to suggest otherwise.
They need to have a doctor check those kids, and if no evidence of abuse is present, then release them immediately. Period.
Well, again, the mere presence of many of the children, given the age of the mothers, is probably (direct, given age of consent and basic biology) evidence of abuse. And, again, the overall prevalence of this evidence is probably evidence that the abuse is widespread and accepted within the group communal home. Seems like ample justification to remove the children from the home, at least temporarily while the investigation continues.
So it seems even slightly okay to you that they rounded up over 400 kids, in a full scale raid, complete with riot gear, automatic weapons, and APC's, for one anonymous call? Doesn't seem like a very short time to mobilize that type of assualt?
Also, this is not a short time to mobilize such an assault. I'd
hope that, in the event of a terrorist attack or hostage situation, that they'd be able to mobilize such an assault fairly quickly. Like, within hours.
EDIT: This is, of course, assuming that civilian law enforcement having such equipment (APCs, automatic weapons, etc.) is a desirable thing in the first place...but that's a topic for another thread. As it is, they
do have such equipment and not being able to deploy it rapidly on little to no notice would
defeat the entire purpose of having it.
Other EDIT:
Okay, so the texas code I read was appearently outdated, as it clearly states 14 with parental consent or judicial approval.
Ah, a little googling and I managed to find a cite claiming the same (came up as the number two hit for a search of "age marriage texas"...though the correct info was provided in the top hit). Next time I recommend sticking to primary sources for such things (usually any reliable secondary source will have a cite that is easily followed). Or, you know, you could have simply read the thread...this was covered before.