Over 400 children taken from a polygamist sect will return to their parents, Texas district judge has ordered.

The court ruled the state child welfare officials had failed to prove that the children were in immediate danger when they were taken from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It was alleged that the girls in the sect were being "groomed" to accept sex with their middle-aged husbands.

 

Welfare officials along with Texas police officers raided the sect's compound near Eldorado in April after reports of sexual and physical abuse.

A court declared that officials had overstepped their authority by removing the 468 children.

Upon collecting their children today, the parents are not allowed to leave Texas without court permission and must participate in parenting classes, the Associated Press news agency reports.