A total of 183 people -- including 137 children -- have been taken away since law enforcement officers raided the compound Thursday night, said Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for the Texas Child Protective Services Division.
Eighteen of the girls have been taken into state custody. The others were taken to a nearby civic center.
Authorities continue the search of the 1,900-acre YFZ ranch, occupied by followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, and at least one man is being sought by police.
The 10,000-member sect openly practices polygamy in two towns straddling the Arizona, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. It arranges marriages for girls as young as 13 and that competition for brides may be reduced through exiling young men. If male followers are excommunicated, the critics claim, their wives and children can be reassigned to someone else, said critics of the sect.
The raid was triggered by reports a 16-year-old girl had been "sexually and physically abused," said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar.
(Agencies)
