One of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history has been under way during the past couple of days in Texas. The state relocated 416 children from the Eldorado ranch where a polygamist sect has been dwelling. Things got even more dramatic as authorities had to send home the mothers of the children aged above 4, according to Marissa Gonzales, spokeswoman for the state Children's Protective Services agency.

At least 139 mothers had chosen to remain with their children after an April 3 raid. Gonzales didn’t know how many of those mothers were allowed to remain with their children.

"It is not the normal practice to allow parents to accompany the child when an abuse allegation is made," Gonzales said.

She added that the mothers who weren’t allowed to remain close to their children weren’t forced to go back to the retreat built by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon sect. They were also given the option to go elsewhere and some of them actually did.

The 416 children were moved Monday from a West Texas historical park to other locations before taking part at a hearing which will decide whether they should be sent back to the Eldorado retreat or put into foster homes across Texas.

Authorities sent five charter buses and five paramedic ambulances to pick the kids up from the Fort Concho National Historical Landmark. They were taken there after a week-long raid at the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado.

The measure of moving the children to two other locations wasn’t accompanied by a public notice, but authorities planned it since last week, said Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

The move came the exact same day several women from the polygamist group complained about the conditions in the fort built in 1880 in a letter sent to  Gov. Rick Perry.