ELDORADO, Texas – A 50-year-old member of a polygamist sect whose alleged abuse of a teenage girl triggered the raid on a West Texas religious compound is no longer wanted by state authorities, officials said Friday.

But authorities did not say when or why the arrest warrant was dropped for Dale E. Barlow, who at one time was thought to be the husband of a 16-year-old member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The call that led to an April 3 raid on the polygamist sect's ranch near Eldorado came from a female who said she was a teenage girl who had been beaten and raped at the ranch. The call was made to a crisis center in San Angelo.

Authorities armed with a warrant for Mr. Barlow's arrest raided the compound, but Mr. Barlow, who was located at his home in Colorado City, Ariz., denied knowing the girl and said he hadn't been to Texas in many years. The girl was never found at the compound. Texas child welfare officials have said they believe she is among the hundreds of children removed from the ranch and sent to foster group homes around the state.

The warrant for Mr. Barlow's arrest "is no longer active," Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.

Rod Parker, an FLDS spokesman, said the dropped warrant shows the weakness of the state's case against residents of the ranch.

"I think that's just one more piece of evidence that the whole basis on which this raid was premised was unfounded and was inadequately checked out, to the formulation of what basically amounted to an army that went in there and took their children," Mr. Parker said.

The phone number used to call the crisis center is the one that was once used by a Colorado woman, identified as 33-year-old Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, accused of making previous false reports of abuse.

Investigators have not said if Ms. Swinton made the call to Texas authorities, though Mr. Vinger said she is "still considered a person on interest."

"There is an investigation centering on that," Mr. Vinger said. "We have quite a bit of evidence that still needs to be analyzed."

State District Judge Barbara Walther has ruled that children removed from the ranch should stay in state custody until each can have a hearing.