A court hearing to decide the fate of 416 children swept up in a raid on a polygamous sect collapsed into farce yesterday, as the judge struggled to keep control of hundreds of lawyers.

The case, which is believed to be one of the most complicated child-custody hearings in legal history, centres around the attempt by Texas state authorities to place the children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in foster homes after widespread allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

Authorities raided the sect’s 1,700-acre compound on April 3. They seized the children and collected documents and disk drives that allegedly provide evidence of underage girls being married to adults.

The trial’s first day saw lawyers and the mothers of the children, dressed in 19th century clothes, spilling out of the crowded courtroom into a nearby auditorium connected by video.

Only three witnesses testified, including Angie Voss, a state child welfare investigator. Ms Voss told the court that the sect permitted women to have children as young as 13.

At least five girls younger than 18 were pregnant or have children, Ms Voss said. She added that if a man fell out of favour, his wives and children would be reassigned to another sect member.

Judge Barbara Walther struggled to keep order in front of the 100 lawyers packed into the 80-year-old courtroom. Several hundred more were jammed into the auditorium two blocks away.

The hearing quickly disintegrated into a barrage of shouted objections and attempts to file motions. When the judge sustained an objection to the prolonged questioning of the state trooper, the lawyers cheered. Upon another objection about the proper admission of medical records of the children, the judge threw up her hands.

“I assume most of you want to make the same objection. Can I have a universal, ‘Yes, Judge’?” she said. In both buildings, the hundreds of lawyers stood and responded in unison: “Yes, Judge.”

“We’re going to handle this the best we can, one client at a time,” Judge Walther said.

The sect came to West Texas in 2003, relocating some members from the church’s traditional home along the Utah-Arizona state line.

Its prophet and spiritual leader, Warren Jeffs, is in prison for forcing an underage girl into marriage in Utah.

Ms Voss testified that through their interviews with girls at the ranch, investigators believed there was a pattern of underage girls given in marriage to older men. She said that if the prophet told the girl to marry or to lie the girl would do as instructed.

“If the prophet told her to lie she would because the prophet received all his messages from the Heavenly Father,” Ms Voss said.

Amid the shouting and chaos among the lawyers, who came from around Texas to represent the children and parents free of charge, dozens of mothers dressed in long cotton dresses sat timidly in the spring heat, braiding their upswept hair.

Outside, TV satellite trucks lined the street in front of the courthouse’s columned façade. A man claiming to be a father from the sect waved a photo of himself surrounded by his five children, ranging from a baby to a child of about 9.

“Look, look, look,” he said. “These children are all smiling, we’re happy.”

Judge Walther signed an emergency order ten days ago giving the state custody of the children after a 16-year-old girl called an abuse hot line claiming her husband, a 50-year-old member of the sect, beat and raped her. The girl has yet to be identified.

The case continues.

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end