Sick People

(CNN) -- Investigators are looking into the possible sexual abuse of some of the boys taken from a polygamist sect's ranch in Texas and into how several children apparently suffered broken bones while there, officials said Wednesday.

Suspicions of sexual abuse are based on interviews with the children and journal entries found at the Yearning For Zion ranch, the state's Child Protective Services agency said.
The compound is owned by the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon offshoot that practices polygamy.

But an FLDS spokesman blasted the department, saying it was unethical of CPS to leak information without any legitimate evidence. "They don't have any evidence that there's abuse, and neither do I," Rod Parker said at a news conference in Salt Lake City, Utah -- home to the sect. "CPS is trying to grab headlines ... and insulate themselves from fair and justified criticism on the way they have treated this case." Law enforcement and child welfare officials raided the ranch this month, acting on phone calls alleging physical and sexual abuse, and took more than 460 children and teens into state custody.

Parker blamed CPS for the problems, saying that birth certificates were seized in the raid and that the department often rejects the documents to classify more children as minors.
Meanwhile, CPS Commissioner Carey Cockerell briefed the state Senate Health and Human Services committee Wednesday on the case but did not provide details on the possibility of sexual abuse. He did say that investigators had identified 41 children who had sustained broken or fractured bones at the ranch. "Several of these fractures have been found in very young children, and several [children] have multiple fractures," he said.

CPS said on its Web site that the department does "not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children, so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information," but "it is cause for concern and something we'll continue to examine."