FLDS legal problems keep mounting
 
By Tom Vaughan
The Mancos Times
 
The pace of legal actions against Prophet Warren Jeffs and others in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is picking up.

The sect, which until recently was based in "Short Creek" — the traditional name for the twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, now owns two 60-acre parcels in the Mancos Valley and a 1,691 acre compound in Schleicher County, Texas.

In addition to an abiding belief in plural marriage (a practice stopped by the LDS in 1890 and banned by them in 1904), the several thousand members of the FLDS pay strict allegiance (and $1,000 monthly tithes) to Jeffs. As the self-styled "Prophet," he has exercised sole control over their lives and wealth since replacing his father as FLDS leader in 2002.

Within the patriarchy, he has cast out men who he considered not faithful enough to his orders, and then "reassigned" the wives, children and property of those expelled to other FLDS men.

The assets of the multi-million dollar United Effort Plan Trust, set up to consolidate the sect’s holding and provide benefits to all members, appear to be solely at Jeffs’ disposition.

There have been long-standing accusations of spouse- and child-abuse within the FLDS, as well as allegations of welfare fraud, sexual molestation, statutory rape and, of course, bigamy. Partly because the FLDS controlled the entire Short Creek and partly because "mum’s the word" within the group, action on these charges has been sporadic and ineffectual.

Those days are over.
  • A Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury has indicted Jeffs on two felony counts relating to marrying a 16-year-old to an already-married 29-year-old FLDS male. The attorneys general of Arizona and Utah announced July 13 that they are jointly posting a $10,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs’ arrest, according to the Eldorado Success, the newspaper published at the county seat of Scheicher County. Success Editor Randy Mankin and other sources have also disclosed that the FBI has entered the case, on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by a federal magistrate in Flagstaff, Ariz., on a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

    Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace told the Times on Monday that he has "not received official word" of either the reward posted or "of the FBI’s intervention."

  • Eight FLDS men in Colorado City were charged July 7 with Class 6 felony offenses similar to those alleged against Jeffs: Sexual conduct with a minor or conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Seven of the men turned themselves in; one was arrested at his home. One of the accused is 23, one is 32 and the other six range in age from 38 to 48.

  • The State of Utah has frozen the assets of the UEP and removed Jeffs and the other UEP trustees from office, triggering a scramble to nominate new trustees and oppose other candidates. The new board was to be named in Utah’s Third District Court on July 21, but the judge in the matter, Judge Constandinos Himoas, suddenly recused himself, without explanation.

If your head is spinning trying to keep up with all the legal and other actions surrounding the FLDS, most of which is not happening in Mancos but may involve the two FLDS-owned properties here, we commend to you a suite of four stories by Deborah Frazier and Gwen Florio in the July 16 Rocky Mountain News (rockymountainnews.com). The results of several months’ research, including at least two trips to Mancos, the stories represent the most comprehensive review and summary of the FLDS story to date that we know of.

"Secrets behind the gate," by Frazier and Florio, deals most with Mancos and the developments here. It ends with a chronology of "Polygamy in the West," an annotated list of key dates in the story of polygamy in the LDS and its offshoots.

"Majestic temple rises in Texas oil country," by Frazier, gives an in-depth review of the YFZ compound in Schleicher County, Texas. At the end, there is a synopsis of relevant state laws regarding bigamy and, in Texas, step-relatives. Frazier has also included short lists of books and Web sites about polygamy, most of them anti-polygamy.

While the legal indictments against Jeffs and key FLDS men mount up, there are thousands of men, women and children who continue in the practice of plural marriage, many of them willingly. That side of the story is perhaps best represented in the Share the Light blog (www.sharethelight.ca/b2/?p=42), maintained by unabashed polygamist and former FLDS bishop Winston Blackmore.

This is a topic that evokes strong emotional reactions, so don’t expect any relevant resources to be unbiased.

"Church trust worth $100 million" by Florio and Frazier, recounts the history of the UEP Trust, now frozen because Jeffs is accused of bleeding it dry for his ventures in Colorado and Texas. The story also describes the inflated welfare rolls in Colorado City, as well as the anomaly of FLDS adherents eking out a living in substandard housing while exorbitant sums are paid for property here and in Texas (and someone at the Mancos FLDS property drives a late-model BMW SUV).

Appended to this story is a summary of the legal actions presently embroiling the FLDS or its leaders. "By the numbers" includes such factoids as "$4,782 The per capita income in Hildale, which is next to last among Utah towns."

"’Principle’ is bedrock law," by Frazier and Florio, recounts the stories of women who have fled the FLDS, which follows "The Principle" of plural marriage as a way to reach heaven’s highest level.

One example cited is Debbie Palmer, who grew up in the British Columbia FLDS community; she describes her childhood, marriages and departure in Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy, co-authored with Dave Perrin in 2004.
 
The Mancos Times
Originally published July 20, 2005
 
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