08:31 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

eramshaw@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Three more people from a West Texas polygamist sect have been indicted on charges related to the "spiritual" marriages of underage girls, nearly six months after state authorities seized hundreds of children from the religious ranch.

The suspects, whom authorities declined to name Tuesday because they haven't been located, are each charged with felony sexual assault of a child. Two also face felony bigamy charges.

Six others – including jailed sect prophet Warren Jeffs – were indicted on similar charges this summer.

"The indictments issued today are part of an ongoing and continuing criminal investigation," Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a prepared statement.

Sect leaders did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The indictments follow months of legal wrangling over the polygamist sect's 440 children, who were seized and sent to foster care facilities in April over allegations that young girls were being forced into marriages with older men.

Two months later, when Texas courts ruled that the state overstepped its authority, most of the children were returned to their parents – albeit under strict scrutiny.

Since then, roughly half of the state's child custody cases regarding the sect have been dropped, meaning the state has determined that the children can live safely with a parent or relative.

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Emphasis added by H4K Editor