| A tough six months for polygamists: prosecutions, raids and revelations | |
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By Eric Yiskis Las Vegas Atheism Examiner | |
Ever since the arrest of Warren Jeffs in August of 2008, the fundamentalist Mormons (FLDS) have been under fire, but the last six months have been especially bad for the sect. Prosecutions On April 3, 2008 Texas authorities raided an FLDS compound called "Yearning For Zion" to investigate a report of physical abuse and neglect. They had to cut through locked gates and a pass a guard tower. A dozen men have since been indicted, with the first sentences handed down November 5th of last year. Raymond Merril Jessop, Allan Keate, Michael Emack, Merril Leroy Jessop, and Lehi Jeffs have received prison sentences between eight and seventy five years for bigamy and sexual assault of minors. The trial of Abram Jeffs is scheduled to begin on June 7th. The rest are awaiting trial. Raids On April 6th, law enforcement from Arizona and Utah served five search warrants at fire stations and shutdown the Hildale public safety department. The warrants alleged "misuse of public funds and fraudulent schemes at the Fire Department and possibly the city government." Investigators are also looking into fraud at the FLDS controlled Twin City Water Works, which has made many questionable payments to construction companies, for example, cabinets at a non-existent office. It's alleged that over a ten year period, $3.2 million went to FLDS leaders instead of water supplying infrastructure. Revelations With the emphasis on multiple wives, male children are forced to leave as they near adult age. Warren Jeffs is reported to have banished 400 of them over a five year period. Known as the "lost boys", they have very little knowledge of the outside world, and have trouble adapting. In March of this year, Brent Jeffs, the nephew of the imprisoned Warren Jeffs, published a memoir of what it's like to be part of the sect, and then be thrust out. Two movies debuting in April, Sons of Perdition and Follow the Prophet describe the seedy underside and sex offenses of the FLDS lifestyle. Nick Shager of Slant Magazine described Sons of Perdition as a "clear-sighted depiction of the criminal and emotional horrors perpetrated in the service of religious psychosis." Carolyn Jessop has just published a new book, Triumph: Life After the Cult, A Survivor's Lessons in which she describes the the 2008 raid, and clears up some of the misinformation from the media's coverage of it. Carolyn is the ex-wife of one of the cult's most powerful leaders, Merril Jessop. He was running the Texas compound at the time of the raid. With its leaders being hauled off to prison, its town government under investigation for embezzlement, and exposed by salacious documentaries, the FLDS' misdeeds have earned it a trifecta of bad PR. In the past, they have claimed the government was persecuting them without cause, and interfering unnecessarily. It was hard to make that claim when, after the raid, the public saw wedding photos of Warren Jeffs kissing his new bride, a blushing twelve year old girl. Her shoulders only came up to his waist. In the YFZ compound temple, a high, white ceremonial bed was found. An informant said it was used to consecrate the marriage immediately after the wedding ceremony. It's the sort of imagery that makes people's skin crawl. Subjugation Even if the polygamists were willing to let their brides grow up to legal age, would such marriages be between consenting adults? People in the sect are banned from watching TV, they are home schooled, and not allowed any significant contact with the outside world. How are young FLDS women supposed to make informed decisions between alternatives, if alternatives have never been presented? And would they be given a choice to do anything but obey? In 1998, John Kingston, a polygamist Mormon from another sect, was sent to prison for assaulting his fifteenth wife for trying to escape. He had taken her to a remote ranch that was used as a kind of “reeducation camp” for wayward wives, and told her she was "going to get 10 licks for every wrongdoing.''* The sixteen year old girl lost consciousness after suffering 28 lashes from a belt. The next day she walked five miles to a gas station, and called 911. When she was picked up by police, she had a swollen (initially thought to be broken) nose, cut lip, and welts on her arms, lower back, legs and buttocks. FLDS women are born into a kind of slavery with religion as the framework. They are brainwashed from the time they are born until the prophet decides who they will marry. Once added to their husband's harem, they bear his children, cater to his whims, and serve out their lives without personal freedom. The only escape from that life requires leaving their children behind, risking being caught and beaten, and going out into a frightening, unknown world. | |
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Examiner.com Originally published May 7, 2010 | |
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