UPI NewsTrack TopNews July 22, 2008

Polygamist sect leader Jeffs indicted

SAN ANGELO, Texas, July 22 (UPI) -- Jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs and four other members were indicted on charges of child sexual assault Tuesday by a grand jury in Texas.

One of the five members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also was charged with bigamy. A sixth sect member was charged with failure to report child sex abuse, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Prosecutors released Jeffs' name because he is already in custody. The others' names were withheld pending their arrests.

"There will be an aggressive effort to apprehend them," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Several women with braided hair and wearing long dresses were summoned before the grand jury earlier in the day. But a 25-year-old sect member who identified himself only as "Ben" told the Chronicle the women divulged nothing to the panel.

"They are all taking the fifth," he said.

Among those called to appear was Willie Jessop, Jeff's former bodyguard who was issued a subpoena.

"It'll all come out," Willie Jessop said as he waited his turn before the grand jury.

The grand jury is meeting four months after allegations that minor girls were being paired with older men led authorities to remove 400 children during a raid on the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas. They were returned a month later after the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state failed to prove the children were in enough danger to warrant the move.

Jet with 7 congressmen has emergency

NEW ORLEANS, July 22 (UPI) -- A Continental Airlines jetliner carrying seven Texas congressmen among its 188 passengers made an emergency stop in New Orleans Tuesday, officials said.

The flight was en route from Houston to Washington when a loss of cabin pressure prompted the crew to make the unexpected stop at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

Continental spokeswomen said no one was injured in the afternoon incident involving Flight 458 and the passengers were being placed on other flights.

The aircraft made a "sharp dive" and landed after the drop in pressure inside caused oxygen masks to drop from the cabin's ceiling panels, KPRC-TV in Houston reported. New Orleans was the nearest airport.

The congressmen on board were Ted Poe, John Carter and Ron Paul, Nick Lampson, Ciro Rodriguez, Solomon Ortiz and Henry Cuellar, KHOU-TV in Houston reported.

"We didn't even know it was an emergency until we heard about it on CNN," said Josh Rosenblum, a spokesman for Rodriguez. "The congressman is cool and calm under pressure."

Texas says hello to Dolly

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BROWNSVILLE, Texas, July 22 (UPI) -- Dolly, the second hurricane of the season, Tuesday raced toward the Texas coast as residents from Brownsville to Corpus Christi prepared for the worst.

At 5 p.m. EST, Hurricane Dolly was 175 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, traveling northwest at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported. The Category 1 storm had sustained winds of 75 mph reaching out 15 miles and gusting higher. Dolly was expected to produce rain accumulations of 6 inches to 10 inches, with 15 inches possible in isolated areas.

Forecasters warned the coastal storm surge could be as much as 6 feet above normal tide, with dangerous, battering waves expected.

A hurricane warning was in effect from Brownsville to Corpus Christi while a tropical storm warning remained in effect from Corpus Christi to San Luis Pass.

Gov. Rick Perry put 1,200 National Guard troops on standby in preparation for landfall, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

"Texans should take proper precautions now to ensure that they are prepared for possible severe weather in their communities," Perry said. "Residents should remain vigilant, heed the warnings from their local officials and continue monitoring this storm."

Internal Notes

U.N. report: Haiti children still abused

UNITED NATIONS, July 22 (UPI) -- Haiti's children are still threatened by kidnappings, rape and other human rights violations even though overall security has improved, a U.N. report says.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission to the impoverished Caribbean country reports that since the start of the year, 66 children have been abducted, compared to 80 for all of 2007.

Two children were killed, including one 16-year-old boy whose tortured body was found after a ransom was paid to his kidnappers, the U.N. report said.

Many abducted girls also are sexually abused, and sexual violence against children remains "a high concern," the report found, though some local non-governmental organizations have indicated there has been a decrease compared with last year.

There also has been an "alarming increase" in the trafficking of children to the neighboring Dominican Republic for labor and sexual exploitation. Nearly 750 children were returned by Dominican authorities in the first five months of the year.

Children also were active participants in violent demonstrations in early April that led to the dismissal of the then prime minister.

The report did note the Haitian judiciary has made progress in its treatment of child law-breakers.But the number of children held for long periods before trial remains high, and many minors are forced to share cells with adult prisoners, the report said.

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