Mormon Custody Case Officially Ends

SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ One of the largest custody cases in U.S. history is over.

Texas District Judge Barbara Walther on Thursday signed an order giving a relative permanent custody of a 15-year-old girl who allegedly was married to polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs when she was 12.

She was the only child who remained in state custody after a massive April 2008 raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch near the West Texas town of Eldorado. With 439 children in state custody, the case was one of the largest on record.

Nearly all the children were returned to their mothers, but the 15-year-old was placed back in state custody after her mother refused to agree with some of the state’s demands.

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