Religion Roundup
Texas Authorities Investigate More Polygamy Charges
Associated Press
May 14, 2008
CLYDE, Texas - Behind guarded gates at the end of a rural road, a self-proclaimed prophet warns his followers against an unclean world outside their West Texas compound.
Many of the children have different mothers and share the same father.
But this isn't the polygamous church whose ranch authorities raided last month in Eldorado.
This is the House of Yahweh: a different sect that the state has been investigating for years. Authorities have charged the group's 73-year-old leader with performing polygamous weddings and forcing about 40 children -- some as young as 11 -- to work jobs at his 44-acre compound.
Yisrayl Hawkins, who has pleaded not guilty, says he and his church are misunderstood and persecuted because of their religious beliefs.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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