Arrest in polygamy call stuns child advocates
Woman, 33, also being investigated in Eldorado case
By GARY SCHARRER Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — It sounded so genuine: a terrified voice of a young girl expressing fear that if rescued from a religious cult, blacks might harm her.

The calls to the Child Protection Project, run by a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, were recorded at the request of the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers wanted to know if the anonymous caller was the young girl whose outcry by phone on March 29, to a San Angelo crisis center triggered a massive raid two weeks ago on the breakaway Mormon sect's ranch outside Eldorado.

The search didn't produce the girl, but records seized at the polygamist site prompted state authorities to remove all 416 children from the ranch and seek termination of parental custody, now the subject of a legal drama in nearby San Angelo involving hundreds of lawyers.

The calls to the former sect member, meanwhile, led the Rangers to Colorado Springs, Colo., where police Wednesday arrested Rozita Swinton, a 33-year-old black woman.

She was charged with falsely reporting abuse to authorities in connection with a separate incident in Colorado Springs two months ago.

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