Sheriff's Office helps woman leave polygamous community
 
Nur Kausar
The Spectrum
 
ST. GEORGE – The Washington County Sheriff's Office helped a woman leave a polygamous community in Colorado City on Tuesday that is run by jailed fundamentalist sect leader Warren Jeffs.

WCSO Det. Nate Abbott said the 25-year-old woman asked for help in leaving a residence in Colorado City to go to Hildale.

"Sheriff's deputies facilitated her request and she peacefully left the area," Abbott said.

He said no standoff took place and WCSO worked well with Colorado City Marshal's Office when assisting with the move.

Abbott said he could not release where the woman was taken for reasons concerning her safety.

Media outlets reported the woman was one of Jeffs' nearly 70 wives, but The Associated Press could not confirm this. Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said he had heard this report, but he also could not confirm the woman's identity or any relation to Jeffs at this time.

"We are following up, but it's too early to tell what, if anything, will come of this investigation," Belnap said.

Willie Jessop, a former spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who no longer follows Jeffs, told The Associated Press that he contacted authorities on the woman's behalf, but declined to provide other details about the incident.

"She came to me under duress for some help," he said to The Associated Press. "We've got her help. She's deciding what she wants to do and how we can help facilitate that. One hundred percent of the focus now is on whatever is in her best interests."

Colorado City and its sister community of Hildale are the FLDS home base of Jeffs.

The 55-year-old is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault convictions.

- The Associated Press contributed to this story
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published October 12, 2011
 
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