San Angelo, Texas ? Two men excommunicated by a polygamist sect went to a west Texas courtroom Tuesday to offer themselves as guardians for their children, who were seized from a church-run ranch, if the state deems their custodial parents unfit.

“If we can establish I’m not guilty of those things, why can’t I have my children?” asked Arthur Barlow, 59, who drove from southern Utah to seek custody of five of his children, who lived at the Yearning For Zion ranch in nearby Eldorado.

Barlow and Frank Johnson, another father seeking custody of his children, were both excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It was not clear how many other relatives of the more than 460 children have asked to be considered alternatives to foster care. Child Protective Services typically looks for relatives in custody cases.

Hearings for the children entered their second day in the five courtrooms of the Tom Green County courthouse.

The hearings, designed to set up procedures for the parents to regain custody of their children, are expected to last three weeks.

Barlow testified he was excommunicated four years ago and had never been to the YFZ ranch, where all the children were removed last month and placed in foster care facilities around the state after CPS argued underage girls were being forced into marriages and sex.

Barlow said he entered into a spiritual marriage 15 years ago with Esther Jessop Barlow, now 35, whom he has known since childhood.

He said that she is a fit mother, but that if the state rules otherwise, he wants custody of the children he hasn’t seen since he was forced from the church.