SAN ANGELO, Texas – State police made an arrest as they searched a sprawling rural compound built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in their investigation into a possible underage marriage, an official said yesterday.
The person was charged with interfering with the duties of a public servant for actions made during the search of the religious compound, Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.
Vinger said the person arrested was not Dale Barlow, the man listed in warrants related to the marriage of an underage girl. He said he had no other details.
The girl’s report to authorities last week led to a raid at the 1,700-acre West Texas compound run by the sect led by Jeffs, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The girl said she had a baby at 15 and authorities were investigating whether she had been abused. They have removed more than 220 women and children from the compound in Eldorado but had yet to locate the girl who made the report.
Authorities moved the women and children Sunday from Eldorado to a historic fort-turned-museum in San Angelo, about 40 miles north. Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said that location was chosen because investigators wanted all the children and women to stay in one place as caseworkers continue interviews.
