It was two weeks ago that hundreds of children were extracted from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado (YFZ stands for "Yearning For Zion," it's not the name of a new rap group. Yet.)  The polygamous compound (the phrase sounds like an ointment you would put on a wart) is run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS. Every article I've read about this case takes great pains to point out that FLDS is an "offshoot" of the Mormon religion, so we'll do the same.

This is one of those stories that gets worse the more you hear about it. For example, there were more than 400 children removed from the ranch on April 4. The court hearing took, "longer than expected because of objections from some of the 350 attorneys representing the children." And, oh yeah -- "130 of the children removed were under the age of 4 and...girls as young as 13 had conceived children at the ranch," according to a supervisor from Texas Child Protective Services. Because of all this, the kids are going to remain in state custody.

Despite the fact that one of the attorneys for some of the children is "a little disappointed" with the ruling, the CPS supervisor also testified that she heard "sister wives" at the compound say that, "no age was too young to be married."

Can you imagine the scene in that courtroom? Apparently each lawyer is raising objections, and the cases are being grouped together by color - pink for girls younger than 4, and so on. Some of the mothers appeared on Larry King, saying that they were unaware of underage girls marrying older men, and asking the court to please give their kids back. It's not easy to out-creepy Larry King at this point, but these ladies hit the ball out of the park. They sound like the women on "Big Love", except weirder and, you know, real.

I have to admit that when one of the weird sister wives starts talking about her "handicapped son," I got a little choked up. A young child being taken away from the only life they've known, however bizarre that life may be, is a sad thing. That said, when you're talking about possible sexual abuse, you can't take any chances. Methinks this will get worse before it gets better.

image: CNN.com