Phone Number in Texas Abuse Case Linked to Colo. Woman
Woman Accused of Making False Abuse Re****ts
By SCOTT MICHELS and REYNOLDS HOLDING
April 23, 3008
A phone number used to allege abuse at a polygamist ranch in West
Texas is associated with a woman in Colorado who has been accused of
making several unrelated false abuse claims in calls to authorities,
court do***ents say.
An arrest warrant affidavit unsealed today in Colorado Springs said 33-
year-old Rozita Swinton had previously used a phone number that was
used to call a crisis hotline in Texas.
The calls came before authorities raided the Yearning for Zion ranch,
but it was not clear if authorities believe Swinton made the calls
that prompted the raid, during which 437 children were taken into
state custody.
Swinton has not been arrested for making calls to the Texas shelter.
She was arrested last week on charges of making a false re****t in an
unrelated case.
The affidavit details dozens of calls from late 2006 through April
2008 to abuse centers and police departments in Wa****ngton state,
Colorado and Texas. The callers always identified themselves as a
young girl, at various times calling herself Dana, April, "V,"
Jennifer and Sarah Barlow, the name of the alleged 16-year-old who
called the Texas crisis center.
According to Texas court do***ents, authorities raided the polygamist
compound after the Newbridge Shelter received several calls at the end
of March from a person who identified herself as Sarah Barlow. The
girl said she was being held against her will at the ranch and had
been abused by her 49-year-old husband.
The Colorado court do***ents say that a phone number associated with
Swinton, who has been named by Texas Rangers as a "person of interest"
in their investigation, was "possibly related to the re****ting party
for the YFZ ranch incident."
That same phone number was used by a person calling herself "Dana,"
who called a safe house in Colorado, saying she had been ***ually
abused. Dana allegedly told the safe house counselor in February 2008
that she and "Rozita" were different personalities who lived in the
same body, according to the affidavit.
Dana then told the counselor to call back on Rozita's number and gave
Swinton's home phone number, the affidavit says.
Another number that was used to call the Texas abuse hotline has been
linked to a man named Courtney Swinton, who lives in the same
apartment building with Rozita Swinton, according to the affidavit.
That phone number was used to call the Newbridge Shelter 16 times
between March 29 and April 5. It was also used to call a battered
women's shelter in Wa****ngton 28 times.
During some of those calls to the Wa****ngton shelter, the caller
claimed to be 16-year-old Sarah Barlow and said she was being held at
the YFZ ranch. The caller said she had gotten married at age 14 to
Dale Barlow, the same man identified by the Sarah Barlow who called
the Texas shelter, as her husband.
|
