FLDS: Sect leader sends letter to Gov. Perry

The days ahead will be crucial for some members of the polygamous sect whose children are now in state custody.

On Sunday the sect appealed directly to Texas Governor Rick Perry to intervene.

The allegations of improper treatment are now coming from both camps.

While the Texas Department of Child Protective Services (CPS) claims the children were in danger inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) compound, a leader of the church claims it’s the state that’s putting the kids in danger.

The allegations of improper treatment are now coming from both camps.

A letter from the leader of the polygamist sect specifies the harm he believes the state is wreaking.

William Jessop wants Governor Rick Perry to block a judge’s order that says those kids must — for now — stay in foster facilities across Texas.

That ruling was based on evidence from child welfare officials, who argued the kids could be endangered at the compound, where they say under-age girls were forced to marry older men and bear children.

“They had workers there to take them there from us, crying and asking for us,” a sect mother explained to CBS News last week.

Some of the children were brought here to Austin, where they’re being cared for at the Austin Children’s Shelter.

A spokesman for the governor told CBS 42 News Sunday that Perry hasn’t yet received the letter.

Meanwhile, the state did release a memo to give caretakers tips on how to handle the kids. It says the kids shouldn’t be exposed to TV, movies, or the radio.

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