Polygamist Ranch Women: We Were Tricked Into Giving Up Our Children

The mothers of hundreds of children who were removed from a polygamist compound in West Texas have accused state officials of tricking them into giving up their children. The AP reports:

Mothers separated from their children as part of a wide-ranging abuse investigation within a polygamist retreat accuse state officials of misleading them before taking their children into custody.

Authorities raided the sect's ranch more than a week ago in response to allegations that underage girls were forced to marry older men. Women and children from the secretive community were taken to a West Texas fort-turned-museum and a rodeo pavilion, but on Monday officials began separating women and some of their children without warning, members of the sect said.

In a rare move, the women invited journalists to the polygamist ranch and gave interviews. The women were visibly distraught as they recounted to a Today Show reporter how authorities separated them from their children.

[WATCH]