“What we have in this situation is a very disappointing attorney who is pushing a different agenda than what her client wants,” Mr. Jessop said. He said he did not know exactly what the relationship was between Raymond Jessop and the girl, and he said his information about the accusations had come from the girl’s mother.

The children of the polygamist group, which split off decades ago from the main branch of Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were ordered released to their parents on Monday by Judge Walther after two court decisions last month that rebuked child protection officials for acting beyond the evidence they had at the time.

The twist involving Mr. Jeffs comes as leaders of the sect are working hard to distance themselves from child marriage.

On Monday night, at a news conference at the group’s compound, the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Willie Jessop read a statement that he said was meant to clarify the sect’s position.

“In the future, the church commits that it will not preside over the marriage of any woman under the age of legal consent in the jurisdiction in which the marriage takes place,” Mr. Jessop said. “The church will counsel families that they neither request nor consent to any under-age marriages. This policy will apply churchwide.”

Asked by reporters if Mr. Jeffs had been involved in the announcement or its message, Mr. Jessop said he did not know.

In another development on Tuesday, DNA test results from nearly 600 sect members  462 of them from children  began arriving at Judge Walther’s court here. The tests were ordered in an attempt to determine parental linkages, and specifically to see if girls under age 16 had been married in violation of Texas law.