A Texas judge has ordered that 416 children, removed from a ranch run by a polygamous sect, remain in state custody for DNA testing.

Child welfare officials had told the court they were unable to determine how the children and adults were related because of evasive or changing answers.

State District Judge Barbara Walther made the ruling after hearing 21 hours of evidence over two days.

It comes after authorities said girls as young as 13 were "spiritually married" to significantly older men.

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The April 3 police raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch, run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), was triggered by a 16-year-old girl who called a domestic hotline.

The girl, who has not been identified, claimed she was being abused by her 50-year-old husband and had given birth at the age of 15.

Judge Walther said the children would be kept in custody while the state continued to investigate allegations of abuse stemming from the teachings of the FLDS.

Full article here.