VICTORIA Prunty knows women like this, wearing their long pioneer dresses and talking on TV last week about how much they miss the children that the state of Texas took from them amid allegations of abuse.

"They have no comprehension of anything other than their environment and their culture," Prunty says. "They're raised in very cultic dynamics, with religious programming, isolation, a lot of intimidation, a lot of male privilege, a lot of secrecy.