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| In mid September, attorney Greg Hoole wrote an editorial regarding the efforts of Teresa Jeffs' mother to replace Natalie Malonis, the Texas court-appointed guardian ad litem who had been assigned to protect Teresa's interests. Greg submitted this opinion piece to The Salt Lake Tribune for publication. Read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Breaking News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Here's the latest on what's happening. These news articles are listed in chronological order. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Statement By Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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News Release oag.state.tx.us Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "A Schleicher County grand jury today issued felony indictments against four defendants associated with the YFZ compound near Eldorado, Texas." "One of the defendants was indicted for conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, which is a third-degree felony. A second defendant was indicted on three counts of third-degree bigamy. The third defendant was indicted on four charges: first-degree felony bigamy, second-degree felony bigamy, third-degree felony bigamy, and tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony." "The fourth defendant, Warren Jeffs, was indicted on a first-degree felony count of aggravated sexual assault. Today’s sexual assault charge is in addition to Jeffs’ July 2008 indictment for sexually assaulting a child." "To date, 12 people associated with the polygamist compound in Eldorado have been indicted as part of the ongoing and continuing criminal investigation." "I want to thank the Texas Rangers, who are the leading this investigation, and the criminal investigators with the Office of the Attorney General, for their outstanding work on this case. For months, dedicated men and women from our Cyber Crimes, Fugitive and Special Investigations Units have literally been living in San Angelo, commuting home to their families on weekends. I also want to thank Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran for his assistance with this matter." "Today’s charges reflect a cooperative effort between the Texas Attorney General's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers, 51st Judicial District Attorney Steve Lupton, and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Richard B. Roper." "Because law enforcement authorities are still reviewing the arrest warrants issued today, further information about the indictments cannot be released at this time." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BREAKING NEWS: Eight more indictments issued against sect members | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - A Schleicher County grand jury this afternoon issued eight more indictments in the criminal case brought against members of a polygamous sect that ran a compound near here. The grand jury indicted four members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a short day that apparently featured no witnesses but rather a review of evidence recovered from the YFZ Ranch since a raid April 3 by law enforcement and the state's Child Protective Services agency. The raid was the largest child removal action in Texas history, taking more than 400 children into state custody on allegations that they were in danger of sexual abuse. Nearly all the children were returned to their families, but the state is now using records seized during the raid to seek indictments against some members of the sect. Schleicher County District Clerk Peggy Williams declined to say whether Wednesday's indictments were issued against any of the 10 members who already have been charged in connection with the case, or what the charges alleged. The indictments bring to 26 the number of charges filed against at least 10 members of the sect, ranging from felony sexual assault of a child to misdemeanor failure to report abuse. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Leader Faces New Felony Charges | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Prophet" Jeffs indicted by Schleicher County Grand Jury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jim Forsyth 1200 WOAI News Radio - San Antonio, Texas Originally broadcast Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 'prophet' Warren Jeffs was indicted on felony charges for a second time today in connection with the April raid on the FLDS compound in Schleicher County, 1200 WOAI news reports. Jeffs was indicted on a second first degree felony county of aggravated sexual assault. Jeffs was indicted in July on charges of sexual assault of a child. Both are first degree felonies which carry punishment of up to 99 years in prison. Jeffs, 53, is already in prison in Utah where is is serving a ten year sentence on charges of arranging an underaged marriage at an FLDS compound there. He is awaiting trial on similar charges in Arizona. Three other FLDS members were also indicted on Wednesday. One if facing a felony charge of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor. A second was charged with thre counts of third degree bigamy. The third was charged with three bigamy counts and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Some 460 children were seized when state officials raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch in April. The vast majority of those children are now living with their parents. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs, three others, indicted in West Texas case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Corrie MacLaggan Austin American-Statesman - Austin, Texas Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A grand jury in Schleicher County today issued felony indictments against four people associated with the Yearning For Zion ranch in West Texas, including sect leader Warren Jeffs, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. With this latest action, a dozen people associated with the ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been indicted in what is still an ongoing investigation led by the Texas Rangers. Jeffs was indicted on first-degree felony charges of aggravated sexual assault, Abbott said. That is in addition to Jeffs' July indictment on charges of sexually assaulting a child, the attorney general said. Abbott didn't name the other three defendants. One was indicted on charges of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor. Another was indicted on three counts of bigamy. The final defendant was indicted on three charges of bigamy and one charge of tampering with physical evidence, Abbott said. The charges "reflect a cooperative effort" between the Attorney General’s Office, Texas Rangers, Texas Department of Public Safety, 51st Judicial District Attorney Steve Lupton and United States District Attorney Richard Roper, Abbott said in a statement. "For months, dedicated men and women from our Cyber Crimes, Fugitive and Special Investigations Units have literally been living in San Angelo, commuting home to their families on weekends," Abbott's statement said. Texas officials in April removed more than 400 children from the ranch after they said an investigation determined that young girls were being forced into marriages with older men. State officials returned the children after a Texas Supreme Court ruling said that the state failed to show that more than a few were at risk. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New indictments issued in polygamist case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — Three more members of a West Texas polygamist sect were indicted Wednesday and its leader, Warren Jeffs, was charged with an additional sexual assault charge in the massive case that sprung from an April raid on the sect's compound. A Schleicher County grand jury indicted two people on bigamy charges and a third on charges of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, the state Attorney General's Office said in a statement. The office is handling the prosecution for the tiny West Texas county. The names of the new defendents were not immediately released. The grand jury also issued an additional charge of aggravated sexual assault against jailed sect leader Jeffs, who has already been charged in Texas with bigamy and aggravated sexuak assault of a child. Previously convicted as an accomplice to rape in Utah, he awaits trial in Arizona for alleged involvement in underage marriages there. Texas child welfare authorities and law enforcement raided a ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in April, looking for evidence that underage girls were forced into marriages and sex with much older men. More than 400 children were seized in the raid and placed in temporary foster care. Grand jury proceedings are secret by law, but records that law enforcment confiscated from church offices indicated a number of girls, some as young as 12, were given away in marriage to Jeffs and other men in the sect. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing reset for figure in polygamy raid inquiry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Standard-Examiner - Ogden, Utah Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A woman linked to telephone calls that may have triggered a raid on a Texas polygamist group is due back in a Colorado Springs court next month after a hearing in an unrelated case was continued. Thirty-three-year-old Rozita Swinton appeared in a courtroom gallery area Wednesday morning, holding a green blanket on her lap and whistling, as a judge reset her hearing for Dec. 19. Prosecutors said they had not yet received reports from a psychological evaluation of the woman. Swinton has been identified as a person of interest in calls to a Texas crisis line that may have sparked an April raid at a compound owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Authorities say the calls were made from a phone number linked to Swinton. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More felony indictments issued in FLDS case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Texas grand jury investigating crimes within the Fundamentalist LDS Church issued more felony indictments this afternoon against four men. One FLDS man was indicted for conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, which is a third-degree felony, according to a statement from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. A second man was indicted on three counts of bigamy, a third-degree felony. A third man was indicted on four charges: first-degree felony bigamy, second-degree felony bigamy, third-degree felony bigamy, and tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony, according to the attorney general. The fourth person indicted Wednesday was FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. He was indicted for aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony. "Today's sexual assault charge is in addition to Jeffs' July 2008 indictment for sexually assaulting a child," Abbott said. "To date, 12 people associated with the polygamist compound in Eldorado have been indicted as part of the ongoing and continuing criminal investigation," he said. The names will likely not be released until arrangements are made for the indicted individuals to surrender to the Schleicher County sheriff. Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams told the Deseret News that some some of the charges were handed down against people who have already been indicted, but it's unclear if she meant anyone other than Jeffs. "The attorney general's office will arrange for their surrender through their attorneys," Sheriff David Doran said Wednesday. "We'll handle it from there." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leader faces new sex assault charge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CNN Originally published Wed November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (CNN) -- A grand jury has indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on a second sexual assault charge in connection with a probe of his Texas compound, prosecutors said Wednesday. The Schleicher County, Texas, grand jury charged Jeffs, who already could be sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a different charge in Utah, with a first-degree felony count of aggravated sexual assault. The indictment is Jeffs' second in Schleicher County. In July, he was charged with sexually assaulting a child under 17. Grand jurors have also indicted three more members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prosecutors said Wednesday. One member faces a count of conducting the unlawful marriage of a minor, another faces three counts of bigamy and a third faces three counts of bigamy and one count of tampering with evidence. The Texas charges stem from a state and federal investigation into the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, about 190 miles northwest of San Antonio. In April, child welfare workers removed more than 400 children from the compound, citing allegations of physical and sexual abuse. After a court battle, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the children returned in June, saying the state had no right to remove them and there was no evidence to show the children faced imminent danger of abuse on the ranch. To date, 12 people associated with the compound have been indicted as part of the investigation, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal judge makes no decision in trust land sale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Local News 8 - Idaho Falls, Idaho Originally broadcast November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge took no action Wednesday to delay a state hearing on the sale of a parcel of land owned by a polygamous church group but currently controlled by the state. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints asked U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to halt a hearing Friday that will decide whether the land can be sold. But Benson will wait for a report from that hearing before reviewing the case. State-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan manages the FLDS' United Effort Plan Trust and wants to sell the parcel of trust land in northern Arizona known as Berry Knoll to pay trust management bills. The FLDS consider communal living an integral part of their faith and see secular management of the trust as a violation of their constitutional right to practice their religion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hundreds of FLDS protest land sale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They packed the courtroom and when there was no more room in there, they stood in the halls that snaked around the federal courthouse. Grandfathers, grandmothers, husbands, wives and children — hundreds of members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church showed up to a hearing Wednesday to protest the proposed sale of more then 700 acres of land on the Utah-Arizona border they consider sacred. "It affects our way of life," an FLDS man named Jerry said as he left the courthouse. "It's our home. It's our future." A hearing is scheduled Friday in St. George on the sale of Berry Knoll, a place FLDS members claim is prophesied to be a holy temple site. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson declined to grant a temporary restraining order to stop Friday's hearing, but promised to hear arguments if a sale were to go forward. "There doesn't seem to be anything of really imminent harm," Benson said. "Bulldozers aren't moving in." FLDS members claim the reformed trust violates their First Amendment rights to freely practice their religion. They have filed a series of lawsuits in several different courts to challenge the UEP Trust and specifically block the sale of Berry Knoll to what they say is a "rival polygamous group." "What's literally at stake is the preservation of the faith itself," their attorney, Stephen C. Clark told the judge. But lawyers for the UEP say their claims are about 3 1/2 years too late. The UEP Trust was taken over by the courts in 2005 amid allegations that FLDS leadership mismanaged it by defaulting on multi-million dollar lawsuits filed by ex-members, and property and funds were being siphoned away. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal judge won't intervene in sale of FLDS land | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Hollenhorst KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hundreds of polygamists descended on a Salt Lake City courthouse this afternoon to try to block the sale of FLDS land. Around 5 p.m. tody, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said he was going to allow a hearing to proceed on Friday morning in the state court over the land-sale issue. Before the sale of that land actually closes, we can expect another hearing. The federal judge wants to make sure that there's not some constitutional issue, especially one involving religious rights. Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were trying to persuade the federal judge to stop a state judge from having a hearing on that subject on Friday. They were asking him to issue a temporary restraining order to stop that hearing, at which it's expected the judge will sign off on this proposed sale of the land. One FLDS member told KSL, "Well, it's prophesied that there would be a temple there. It's always been a place to take your children and look around and tell them what will be some day." Nearly all the land in Colorado City and Hildale is in a charitable trust that once was run by Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS leader. A state court took it over three years ago, and a special fiduciary has been administering it. Lawyers say he needs to sell the land, primarily to raise legal fees. Zachary Shields, attorney for the trust fiduciary, said, "Because the trust is in desperate need of funds to continue its operations. It's under attack from all sides. It needs to be able to defend itself." The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 after allegations that church leaders had mismanaged its funds.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former FLDS Member Remembers Abuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Originally broadcast November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WESTCLIFFE, Colo. (CBS4) -- The polygamist group the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, has acquired at least eight properties in four Colorado counties. CBS 4 reporter Rick Sallinger became the first TV reporter allowed inside one of their of their compounds and he spoke with the women living there. They say they are yearning for heaven and outside Westcliffe, they perhaps feel they have found Heaven on Earth. "I love it. Very invigorating and the atmosphere is just lovely," one member of the FLDS church told CBS4. Those in the compound consist primarily of widows who have spent their lives in polygamy, like Dorothy Barlow. "When we were children they would call us "plyg" ... polygamist, and that was just something we got used to, but it wasn't fun; it was something we got used to," Barlow said. They were in what they call plural marriages. Some of the women were married to now deceased FLDS Bishop Fred Jessop. Sallinger asked Barlow, "What is it like having all these wives and one husband?" "It's really quite exciting if you want to bless him and want him to have the best; want him to be cared for, then how can you feel bad," she responded. Wearing their prairie dresses with their hair in a French braid, they live in a communal setting. When CBS4 visited, they were passing the time canning fruits. Their daily needs are met by an FLDS caretaker and his family. They rarely venture out. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nine more indictments issued against FLDS members | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ELDORADO - Nine more charges were brought Wednesday against four members of a secretive polygamous sect whose sprawling Schleicher County compound was raided in April. The indictments were issued by the Schleicher County grand jury after a meeting in which it appeared no witnesses were called. They bring to 26 the number of charges filed against 12 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - all regarding alleged underage marriages conducted during the years since the sect bought property northeast of Eldorado and built the YFZ Ranch. Sect leader Warren Jeffs was among the four men charged Wednesday, according to the state Attorney General's Office. Already indicted in July on a charge of sexual assault of a child, Jeffs was charged Wednesday with aggravated sexual assault. Charges against the other three men are as follows, according to the Attorney General's Office:
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| 8 new indictments issued in Texas polygamist case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Originally published Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas (AP) — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted another three members of a polygamist sect that was the focus of a massive raid in west Texas during the spring. The state attorney general's office said four people were named in eight new indictments, but one of them — sect leader Warren Jeffs — had been previously charged. The grand jury in Schleicher County has now charged 12 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A sexual assault charge was added against Jeffs, who previously was charged in Texas with bigamy and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Two people were indicted on bigamy charges Wednesday, and another was charged with conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, the attorney general's office said in a statement. All but one of the nine men previously indicted are charged with sexual assault of a child. Several of those men also face bigamy charges. The sect's doctor is charged only with misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse. The church's attorney, Rod Parker, said late Wednesday the grand jury's investigation seems to be winding down. Charges of bigamy will be difficult to prove, he said, because plural FLDS marriages were sanctioned in the church but not legal marriages. Texas law makes it illegal to even purport to marry more than one person, but Parker said enforcement against consenting adults will face a constitutional challenge. "When you talk about making bigamy a crime in a setting where there is not a civil marriage ... it is not constitutional," he said, comparing the relationships to other cohabitating couples. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Buy Retreats In Colorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Fields Moseley KUTV 2News Originally broadcast November 12, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have been accused of bigamy, forced marriage and the mistreatment of women and children. Their prophet, Warren Jeffs, sits in jail convicted of rape as an accomplice after the marriage of an underage girl. Now, members have purchased at least eight properties in Colorado and some are occupied. After gaining notoriety on a national level with the raid on their Eldorado, Texas ranch, their new Colorado neighbors are suspicious. "I think we just came here for a place of safety while this goes on, we're not going to settle here," said Margaret Jessop in from the ranch outside Westcliffe, Colorado. Several women of all ages were washing large jars and paring fruit for canning recently in a large home at the ranch. But they insist that ranches like this are meant for widows and grandmothers to escape what’s been going on in Hildale-Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border. "We enjoyed it there until persecution, they just moved in." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy pic gets infusion of cash | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Cody Clark Provo Daily Herald Originally published Thursday, November 13, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The nearly finished documentary "Sons of Perdition" was given a welcome Halloween treat at the end of October. The film is one of seven documentary projects chosen to receive an award of "finishing funds," or cash intended to help the filmmakers complete production, from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund of the Tribeca Film Institute, affiliated with the popular Tribeca Film Festival. "Sons of Perdition," directed by Utah residents Tyler Meason and Jennilyn Merten, chronicles the experiences of strong-willed teenagers, the disillusioned children of polygamous marriages, who've been disowned by their families and religious communities. Measom is the former director of the short-lived Utah Family Film Festival, and was a partner with festival founder Brady Whittingham in the revival of discount moviegoing at the now-defunct Festival Cinemas in Orem. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge to hear arguments in sect land sale dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Standard-Examiner - Ogden, Utah Originally published November 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Friday over whether to sell a parcel of land that a polygamous church has designated for a temple. The 700-plus-acre Berry Knoll is held in the United Effort Plan Trust, a land trust that is the charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The $110 million property trust was taken over by the Utah courts in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement. Now a court-appointed fiduciary wants to sell it to pay millions of dollars in legal fees. The FLDS have collected more than 4,000 signatures on a petition asking 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg not to approve the sale. The sect claims their religious practices have been violated by secular control of the trust. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS land sale goes before top court today | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Utah Supreme Court refused to halt a hearing scheduled for today on the proposed sale of more than 700 acres that members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church claim is a holy temple site. In a ruling handed down late Thursday, the state's highest court also temporarily put a halt to a judge's earlier order disqualifying the Salt Lake City law firm that represents members of the polygamous sect challenging reforms to the United Effort Plan Trust. "The court intends to conduct a hearing regarding the petition's specific challenges to the district court's rulings," Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham wrote. A judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court disqualified Snow, Christensen & Martineau because they once represented the FLDS Church and the trust itself. "It's a nice victory," attorney Rod Parker said late Thursday. "We want to sit down with the legal team and analyze what it allows us to do and what would be appropriate and not appropriate." Hundreds of FLDS faithful are expected to appear in a St. George court on Friday to challenge the proposed sale of Berry Knoll, a piece of farmland on the Utah-Arizona border. The court-appointed special fiduciary of the UEP Trust wants to sell it to pay off debts and has accused the FLDS of engaging in a coordinated legal attack to starve the trust of money. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Large crowd gathers for polygamy-related hearing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spectrum Originally published November 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A hearing this morning is drawing hundreds of people, presumably from the polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City, to the 5th District Courthouse in St. George. State-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan manages the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' United Effort Plan Trust and wants to sell the 770-acre parcel of trust land in northern Arizona known as Berry Knoll to pay trust management bills. Representatives for Wisan have said it's too late for the FLDS to object to Wisan's management of the trust. They argue opponents should have come forward in 2005, when the state first took control of the trust after allegations of mismanagement against church leaders, including Warren Jeffs. The trust holds an estimated $110 million in communal property. On Wisan's watch, legal documents that formed the trust have been retooled. Under the newly formed trust, its beneficiaries, including current and former church members, could seek private ownership of their homes or property either through holding a deed outright, or by placing the assets in a family trust. The FLDS contend, however that the new trust prevents them from returning the asset to the church. For more on this story, please check back for updates and see tomorrow's print edition of The Spectrum & Daily News. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge halts hearing over proposed FLDS land sale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — In a surprise move Friday morning, 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg abruptly halted a hearing over the proposed sale of Berry Knoll, which is more than 700 acres of FLDS farmland on the Arizona/Utah border. Lindberg said she was acting on the recommendation from the Utah Attorney General's Office that the dispute should be worked out among the parties absent a judicial ruling. There should be an effort made, she added, to achieve a global resolution. "I am not going to take action today one way or another but I do expect a show of good faith that we seek demonstrative movement forward and that this not drag out. I am imploring all interested parties ... .to try to reach out and establish a dialogue where it has broken down." Hundreds of FLDS turned out in the St. George court on Friday to challenge the proposed sale. The court-appointed special fiduciary of the UEP Trust wants to sell it to pay off debts and has accused the FLDS of engaging in a coordinated legal attack to starve the trust of money. In 2005, the UEP Trust was taken over by the courts over allegations that FLDS leaders mismanaged it by defaulting on lawsuits and siphoning property away from it. The $110 million UEP Trust controls homes and property in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The trust was reformed, doing away with the communal property concept in favor of private property ownership. After 3 1/2 years of silence, FLDS members are launching legal challenges to the trust reforms claiming the reformed trust violates their religious freedom rights. Lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary over the UEP Trust argue church members are too late to challenge the reforms because they refused repeated pleas for input in the reform process. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorneys to negotiate polygamy-related land sale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court placed in recess to allow for more talks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spectrum Originally published November 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A court hearing to decide whether land that belonged to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints should be sold has been recessed so that the opposing attorneys can try to work out an agreement. State-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan manages the FLDS’ United Effort Plan Trust and wants to sell the 770-acre parcel of trust land in northern Arizona known as Berry Knoll to pay trust management bills. The trust holds an estimated $110 million in communal property. On Wisan’s watch, the newly formed trust, its beneficiaries, including current and former church members, could seek private ownership of their homes or property either through holding a deed outright, or by placing the assets in a family trust. The FLDS contend, however that the new trust prevents them from returning the asset to the church. Approximately 1,000 members of the FLDS church crowded the courthouse today for the hearing. The building's front lawn and lawn across the street had filled with people by 8:30 a.m. Many were texting on cell phones, while others took to more traditional pastimes like reading or knitting. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge continues hearing on sale of UEP land | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — A global resolution of more than a dozen lawsuits involving the FLDS church could be resolved within months and ultimately pave the way for the polygamous sect to regain control of some of its communal trust property along the Utah/Arizona border. Third District Court Judge Denise Lindberg, who traveled to St. George on Friday for a hearing on the proposed sale of 700-plus acres of United Effort Plan Trust land, instead postponed the hearing to "give everybody a bit of breathing room." More than 2,500 FLDS members showed up at the 5th District Courthouse for the hearing, lining nearby streets and setting up camp chairs on the patio in front of the building. Members of the FLDS faith believe the land, also known as Berry Knoll, is sacred ground consecrated for a future temple site. Lindberg said her decision to halt the sale of the Berry Knoll property came after meeting in chambers with attorneys on both sides of the issue. "Contrary to what I thought would happen, I am going to recess this hearing. I'm not going to take action today one way or another," the judge said, following a delay of nearly an hour. "I do expect a show of good faith, that we see demonstrative movement forward, and that this not drag out. I implore all interested parties to try and reach out in good faith and establish dialogue where it has broken down." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Surprise Victory For FLDS At St. George Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Rod Decker KUTV 2News Originally broadcast November 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A surprise victory for the polygamist FLDS was won today in a St. George courtroom. A hearing was scheduled on whether a state trustee would sell FLDS land to pay some $3 million dollars in administrative and legal fees. But the hearing was cancelled at the last minute when representatives of Utah Attorney Generals Office disapproved the sale, allowing the FLDS members to keep the land as they want it. "I’m just glad I was here to see the will of our heavenly father done," said one FLDS woman, who declined to give her name. About 700 FLDS men, women and children came to the hearing in support of keeping the land. They were not admitted to the courthouse, but stood outside on the plaza. FLDS hold their homes and land in a trust controlled by their church. In 2005 the state of Utah took over the trust because FLDS prophet Warren Jeff refused to come to court. State trustee Bruce Wisan, wants to sell land to pay fees to himself and trust lawyers. Now, the sale will not take place and the fees will have to be negotiated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of FLDS land on hold | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Hollenhorst and Andrew Adams KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The FLDS people are claiming victory today because a judge in St. George halted a land sale that had them fired up. Whether they'll get what they want in the long run remains to be seen, but just by speaking up, they changed the legal equation and pushed the court to change direction. It's ironic that the FLDS came to court, even if only one had come instead of thousands. For years, the courts tried to get them to come, and they refused. Warren Jeffs' legal advice to his followers was always "answer them nothing." So even as lawsuits threatened all their assets, the FLDS never came to court. With default judgments looming, the courts took control of the United Effort Plan (UEP)land trust, which owns most FLDS land and homes. A court-appointed official negotiated a settlement of the lawsuits. This week, as he moved toward selling some of the land to raise legal fees, FLDS members finally responded in a blur of court filings and mob scenes. FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said, "You know, there's many people here that are facing eviction from their homes. I'm certainly facing the eviction with all my cows off the property, and this affects everybody in this crowd." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing on sale postponed; FLDS optimistic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BY DAVID DEMILLE The Spectrum Originally published November 15, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE - More than 1,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gathered outside the 5th District Courthouse in St. George on Friday for a scheduled hearing on the proposed sale of a parcel of land they consider sacred. Members of the polygamous sect, made famous during the trial of former leader Warren Jeffs, filled the courtroom and lined the streets outside anticipating a long day of testimony. The crowds didn't have to wait long before news came that the case had been continued amid hopes that attorneys on both sides could reach some understanding outside the courtroom. State-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan manages the FLDS' United Effort Plan Trust, and had planned to sell more than 700 acres of Trust land in northern Arizona known as Berry Knoll to help pay Trust management bills. Sect members say the property has historical religious significance and has been prophesied as a future temple site. Managers say the trust is some $2 million in debt, and Wisan and his attorneys haven't been paid in more than a year. Wisan was appointed three years ago to manage the UEP Trust, which includes an estimated $110 million worth of property in the Hildale and Colorado City areas, where most residents are FLDS members. The state formed the Trust in 2005 amid allegations of mismanagement by FLDS leaders. For three years, sect members were silent about the makeup of the Trust, but now they say their religious freedoms have been violated, and attorneys for the sect have challenged the Trust. The proposed purchaser is a rival religious sect. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing canceled in FLDS sect land sale dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published Saturday, 15 November 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE -- A judge paused on Friday a 3-year-old fight over land in a polygamous church trust so the parties can try to negotiate a settlement outside of court. Forged by the Utah attorney general's office, the agreement calls for an immediate halt to nearly a dozen lawsuits in state and federal courts involving the United Effort Plan Trust, the charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A settlement -- which attorneys predict could be reached within weeks -- could pave the way for the FLDS to regain control of trust land that has been under state control since 2005. Judge Denise Lindberg said the parties are showing a good-faith effort to resolve issues related to the trust. "The best thing that I can do for you today is to give you that space," said Lindberg, a judge from the 3rd District who scheduled the hearing in southern Utah's 5th District so church members could have easier access to the court. A hearing had originally been scheduled for Lindberg to consider whether court-appointed fiduciary Bruce Wisan could sell a 700-plus-acre parcel from the $110 million communal property trust to pay legal and management fees. FLDS church members sued unsuccessfully to try to stop the hearing. They also hoped to block the sale of the parcel -- called Berry Knoll -- in northern Arizona that had been designated for a future temple site. That sale is now on hold. "Absolutely, it's a huge victory," FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said Friday outside the 5th District courthouse in St. George where more than 2,500 members of the FLDS church gathered to await a decision. More than 4,000 church members had signed a petition asking Lindberg not to approve the Berry Knoll sale. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy show stinks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Scott D. Pierce Deseret News Originally published Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Let's not pull any punches here. Dawn Porter is no journalist and cable channel TLC is beyond irresponsible to air her laughably bad program about polygamy. "Forbidden Love" (Sunday, 11 p.m., TLC) is rather ridiculous to begin with. Porter tells viewers that she's been single for four years and she's looking for love. But first she plans to "experience some of the most extreme ways that women find love and live with men." Next week: geishas! But first up: polygamists! And, apparently incapable of spending 30 seconds doing research on the Internet, Porter is also incapable of understanding that Mormons do not practice polygamy. That it was abandoned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1896. "Polygamy means one husband and lots of wives. It's a basic tenet of the Mormon Church," Porter intones. "Now it's outlawed, but many fundamentalist Mormons hide out in the middle of nowhere in Utah and the states around it." Again, 30 seconds of research and Porter would have discovered that it hasn't been a basic tenet of the Mormon Church in 118 years. Porter traveled to Centennial Park, Ariz., to visit a family of polygamists at the time Texas authorities were raiding the FLDS compound. "I couldn't have chosen a worse moment to try and get into a Mormon household," she incorrectly states. And, reading a headline in the Cedar City Spectrum, she tells viewers about the "400 children taken away from a polygamous Mormon family in Texas. Basically, allegations of child abuse and underage marriage." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carolyn Jessop tells her personal story of control and abuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Landus Rigsby Claremont Courier - Claremont, California Originally published November 15, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Powerful. Moving. Shocking. Former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Jessop, shared the story of her life and eventual escape from the polygamous sect at the Balch Auditorium on Tuesday night. The first speaker for this season’s Alexa Fullerton Hampton Speaker Series: Voice and Vision, Ms. Jessop took the audience on a 37-minute journey that spanned from her experience within the sect as a child, to her current life as a mother. "The lifestyle — when you're born into it — it's not just a lifestyle any longer," Ms. Jessop told the audience on Tuesday. "It actually becomes a culture that is separate and different than normal society. And you're taken away from that to the level that you don't know anything different." Born into what she refers to as the "largest FLDS sect" in 1968, Ms. Jessop became a 6th generation member and was raised according to its lifestyle and teachings. While she wanted to attend college after high school, she instead was forced to marry current FLDS leader Merril Jessop at just 18 years of age. Mr. Jessop was 50 years old at the time and the marriage was his 4th. From her childhood, the former FLDS member was taught to believe people outside of the church were evil and her rights as a woman were determined by her father and later on, her husband. Yet it was her experiences apart from the FLDS community that began to open her up to a different reality and break the effects of control she had been subject to from an early age. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shurtleff sets several goals for 'last' term as Utah's AG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newly re-elected Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff insists his third term as the state's top prosecutor will be his last. "I made a promise to my wife it's the last time I run for attorney general," he chuckled. "So far she's accepted that. She hasn't asked me if that means I won't run for anything else, and I haven't promised anything." But pressed if he plans to run for another office, the Republican incumbent did not discount a future run for governor or U.S. Senate. "There's things I could do as governor that I think would benefit the state," he said in a recent interview with the Deseret News. "I've always had an interest in the United States Senate ... but it all depends on timing and who's in and who's out, who's going to run again. So I just keep my options open and, in the meantime, do my job. I think that's the best thing I can do, is be a good attorney general." Re-elected by a wide margin over his opponents, Shurtleff said he has some initiatives he'd like to accomplish in his final term — including a crackdown on prescription drug abuse and Internet-based crimes against children, more investigations and prosecutions of crimes within polygamous groups, and expanding an identity theft database. "It's kind of a mandate to continue," he said of his re-election. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS leader's lawyers to question anti-polygamy activist | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyers for Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs plan to interview an anti-polygamy activist about the phone calls that sparked the raid on the sect's YFZ Ranch in Texas. In papers filed last week in a Kingman, Ariz., court, Jeffs' attorneys said they have scheduled a Nov. 24 interview with Flora Jessop in Phoenix. Jeffs' criminal defense team has asked her to bring copies of "any recordings of any phone calls between yourself and Rozita Swinton," the woman suspected of making the hoax call that launched the raid. The FLDS leader's attorneys also seek phone call recordings between Jessop and Arizona and Texas law enforcement and child welfare officials. Jessop told the Deseret News earlier this year she received numerous calls from Swinton, who claimed to be an abused, pregnant teenager trapped in a marriage to an older man on the YFZ Ranch. Jessop said she went to law enforcement when she began to believe the calls were a hoax. It was similar calls to a family crisis shelter in San Angelo, Texas, that prompted authorities to investigate the FLDS Church's property near Eldorado. On site, Texas CPS and law enforcement said they saw other evidence of abuse that led a judge to order the removal of all of the children from the ranch. Approximately 439 children were returned two months later when a pair of courts ruled the state acted improperly in removing all of the children. Swinton, 33, is considered a "person of interest" by Texas authorities. The Deseret News reported last month that she is undergoing in-patient mental health treatment as part of a pair of unrelated false reporting cases in Colorado. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge rejects restraining order against FLDS investigator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — A judge has denied a request for a restraining order against a private investigator who has spent years looking into the Fundamentalist LDS Church. Court records indicated that after a day of testimony on Tuesday, the judge denied Willie Jessop's motion for a restraining order keeping Sam Brower away from him. "The grounds for a preliminary injunction have not been met and is therefore denied without prejudice," the court minutes said. "The temporary restraining order is withdrawn." Jessop, a spokesman for the FLDS Church, sought the restraining order accusing Brower of trespassing on his property. Brower, who works for attorneys suing the FLDS Church, denied any wrongdoing and accused the polygamous sect of trying to stifle his investigations. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LDS Church Targeting Continues In Wake Of Prop. 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Rod Decker KUTV 2News Originally broadcast November 18, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attacks on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue in the wake of Proposition 8. The producers of South Park, a cartoon on TV, say they will bring a satirical musical to Broadway early next year called "Mormon Musical." They say they already have a script. One episode of the cartoon on TV already satirized Mormons, and included a song: "Joseph Smith he was a prophet, dum dum dum dum dum." A story Monday in the Los Angeles Times said the LDS Church "feels the heat" over Proposition 8. The story cited Professor Jan Shipps, a leading scholar of Mormonism. She said the Church image rode high after the successful 2002 Olympic Games. But Mitt Romney's Mormonism proved a drawback during his run for the Presidency. When Texas lawmen raided the FLDS "Yearning for Zion" compound near El Dorado, and illegally seized all the children, many people over the world confused the FLDS and the LDS, and the Mormon image was further harmed. Dr. Shipps predicts the fallout from Proposition 8 may harm the LDS missionary effort, and retard the Church's growth. See photo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs' attorney to interview witness | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - The attorney for the convicted prophet of a Colorado City polygamist church will interview a key witness in his Arizona case Monday. Superior Court Judge Steven Conn ruled in October to allow Warren Steed Jeffs' defense attorneys to interview Flora Jessop in Jeffs' two Mohave County cases. Jessop was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Colorado City who escaped the polygamist community in 1986. She is now executive director of the Child Protection Project in Phoenix. Jeffs, 52, is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases involving two underage girls. The crimes allegedly took place in the summers of 2002 and 2003. Jeffs also is charged with felony sexual assault of a child under 17 and aggravated sexual assault in Schleicher County, Texas. Jeffs' attorney, Mike Piccarreta, will interview Jessop Monday at the Arizona Attorney General's Office in Phoenix. Jessop also must bring any recordings of phone calls she made with Arizona or Texas law enforcement or the Texas Child Protection Services from March 22 to April 16. She also must provide any phone tapes she made with Rozita Swinton, the Colorado woman whose phone call initiated a raid at the FLDS compound in Texas. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS mom drops action against Texas CPS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Fundamentalist LDS mother who sought sanctions against Texas child welfare officials for taking her 2-year-old daughter in the raid on the YFZ Ranch has dropped the issue. Naomi Johnson sought financial damages against Texas Child Protective Services, claiming the agency failed to show it had evidence of abuse involving her daughter, Rebecca, and made sweeping abuse allegations against the entire FLDS community. A hearing on sanctions was scheduled in San Angelo, Texas, Wednesday. But the hearing was canceled after the toddler was "nonsuited" on Oct. 28. "We basically swapped nonsuits," Johnson's attorney, Robert Gibson Jr., told the Deseret News on Monday. "They dismissed, we dismissed." In April, law enforcement and child welfare workers raided the YFZ Ranch after a phone call alleged abuse. Approximately 439 of children were taken into protective custody, only to be returned two months later when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not in immediate danger of abuse. To date, only 37 children remain a part of the ongoing child custody case. The rest have been "nonsuited," or dropped from court oversight after CPS said its investigators either found no evidence of abuse or their parents had taken appropriate steps to protect the children. "They went through a hellish nightmare," Gibson said of Johnson and her daughter. "Just to know that they don't have the state hanging over them is a huge relief." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Settlement talks begin over FLDS trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyers in the ongoing legal battle over the United Effort Plan Trust have begun meeting in an effort to end a legal war over the Fundamentalist LDS Church's real estate-holdings arm. The Utah Attorney General's Office, lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary and members of the advisory board for the UEP Trust met in Salt Lake City on Wednesday to begin talking about crafting a proposed settlement. Lawyers for FLDS members suing the trust were not there, but will be approached with their ideas soon. "We don't have any proposal yet, but we've got some parameters," said Jeffrey L. Shields, attorney for UEP fiduciary Bruce Wisan. "We're in good faith going to try to resolve this." Talks of a settlement came to light as a hearing was supposed to begin on Friday in St. George over the proposed sale of 711-acres of farmland on the Utah-Arizona border. Some FLDS members sued to stop the sale of Berry Knoll, which they claim is a holy temple site. After 3 1/2 years of refusing to deal with Wisan or the courts, FLDS members have broken their silence in a series of lawsuits challenging the reform efforts. Some of those lawsuits accuse the court-controlled UEP Trust of violating FLDS members' religious freedom rights by not allowing them to give their property over to the church. The announcement of settlement talks has put those lawsuits on hold temporarily. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interim committee approves incest law changes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Arthur Raymond Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A graphic and disturbing story of incest within an Iron County Utah family—and the frustration of a district attorney forced to abandon criminal charges related to allegations in the matter—led to unanimous passage of a proposed amendment to state law Wednesday at a Capitol legislative committee hearing. The proposed changes to the Utah statute on incest, sponsored by Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, will get a place near the top of the list of matters for the Legislature to consider when it begins its 2009 session in January. Cedar City resident Elend LeBaron told the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee that about a year ago he and two of his brothers took DNA samples from two children of his sister's based on suspicions that "something was not right." LeBaron said genetic tests conducted on the samples revealed that the children were fathered by the mother's father, Ross LeBaron. "When we found out, after we received the test results, my brothers ... and I compiled information surrounding this situation," Elend LeBaron said. Elend LeBaron said his father, Ross, is involved with a polygamist community in southern Utah and believes that his father artificially inseminated his sister, that the act had religious implications and may have been an attempt to "replicate a virgin birth ... believing that this is how Jesus came into the world." He also stated that his father and sister have parented four children. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incest law focus of draft bill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published Thursday, 20 November 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A state lawmaker said Wednesday he wants to rewrite a Utah statute to close a loophole in the law that allows incest through artificial insemination. Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, said his goal is to block inappropriate family relations that produce children with serious birth defects. His draft bill presented Wednesday would make it illegal for adult relatives to provide each other with seminal fluids or human eggs for use in artificial insemination. Stowell also wants to eliminate as a possible criminal defense the claim that no sexual intercourse occurred. Current incest laws require proof of sexual intercourse and address offenses between adults and children under 18. The law enforcement and criminal justice interim committee voted unanimously to forward the bill for consideration during the legislative session that starts in January. "We had a case of incest in Iron County. In the course of prosecuting, [what] the defense offered was that this incest was done by artificial insemination which is not covered in the law," Stowell said. "This is an attempt to correct that problem." Stowell said research of incest laws nationwide shows Utah would be the first state to address incest through artificial insemination. Allegations of incest were brought to Iron County authorities last year by Elend LeBaron and two of his brothers, who feared their father, Ross W. Lebaron, Jr., was engaged in an incestuous relationship that had produced at least four children. DNA testing on one of the children -- the samples were collected in secret and the tests paid for by the three brothers -- indicated a high probability that incest had occurred. The tests "transformed our suspicion into a very painful reality," an emotional Elend LeBaron, of Delta, told the committee. "My father is in fact having children with one of my sisters." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ex-interns at News win photo prizes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deseret News Originally published Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two former Deseret News photo interns won several awards, including best portfolio, at a major collegiate competition this weekend. Tim Hussin, a senior at the University of Florida, won accolades for best portfolio at the 63rd annual College Photographer of the Year competition, held at the University of Missouri. He also had a first-place finish for multimedia-individual still image/audio story or essay, second in the multimedia-individual video/mixed media story or essay category and third for documentary picture story. Hussin worked as a Deseret News intern from January to May of this year. He plans to graduate in December and then complete an internship with National Geographic. "I had no expectations," he said about winning. "So when I found out, I was pretty baffled." Hussin's winning portfolio included photos and videos he shot from inside the FLDS ranch in Texas. His photos and videos were featured on CNN and NBC's Today Show as an exclusive first look inside the FLDS ranch. Another former Deseret News photo intern, Jenn Ackerman, an Ohio University student, also won several prizes. She won first place for feature photo, documentary picture story and multimedia project. She completed an internship with the Deseret News in the summer of 2007. Judges said they reviewed 13,313 still images, 169 multimedia projects submitted by 566 student photographers from 121 colleges and universities in 13 different countries. Hussin's and Ackerman's award-winning images can be viewed at cpoy.org. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Restraining order pulled back on investigator Brower | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BY PATRICE ST. GERMAIN The Spectrum Originally published November 20, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE - Fifth District Court Judge G. Rand Beacham rescinded a temporary restraining order following an all-day hearing Tuesday. The temporary restraining order was filed in July by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints spokesman Willie Jessop against private investigator Sam Brower. Jessop got the restraining order against Brower following an incident in which Jessop claimed that Brower escorted a news crew to his home and office in Hildale and another residence of Jessop's called the Boulder Mountain Ranch in the Canaan Gap area, part of the unincorporated county near Hildale. During questioning by Brower's attorney, Willard Bishop, Jessop said Brower was "a paid hit man to take down the church." Jessop said that in confrontations he had with Brower, Brower was extremely abusive, screamed insults at him and several times, deliberately moved his jacket to show Jessop he had a gun. When questioned by Bishop, Jessop was asked if he was ever a bodyguard for FLDS leaders. Jessop said he could not recall being a bodyguard, but said any church member has an obligation to protect their family and church. Brower said he has worked on issues surrounding the FLDS church and Hildale and Colorado City communities for about four years and said he was never asked to investigate Jessop, but said he did some investigating on his own. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Heiligenstein tapped to lead protective services department | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appointee will carry on agency's improvements, commissioner says. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Corrie MacLaggan Austin American-Statesman Originally published Friday, November 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins on Thursday tapped one of his deputies to take over the state agency that earlier this year oversaw the seizure of hundreds of children from a West Texas ranch owned by a polygamous sect. Anne Heiligenstein, 57, will take over the nearly 11,000-employee Department of Family and Protective Services Dec. 1. She'll oversee a department with an annual budget of $1.3 billion that is charged with protecting children, the elderly and people with disabilities from abuse and neglect. "Anne knows these programs inside and out," Hawkins said. "She brings experience, commitment and passion to the job, and I am confident Anne will continue the improvements we've seen." The department, which oversees Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services and licenses child care facilities, has undergone major legislative-mandated changes since 2005 following state reports that CPS failed to provide needed services for children. Heiligenstein led state teams that recommended reforms. She succeeds Carey Cockerell, who retired Aug. 31, five months after the controversial raid on the ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. CPS said its investigators found a pattern of teenage sexual abuse, but the Texas Supreme Court ordered the state to return the children to their parents. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Costs top $12.4M for raid on FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure doesn't include court fees for massive case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch and its aftermath have cost the state of Texas more than $12.4 million, new figures provided to the Deseret News reveal. A spreadsheet outlining some of the costs for the sheltering of FLDS women and children in the aftermath of the April raid was provided by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on Wednesday after a request for an accounting. The figures for the "San Angelo Mass Care Event" do not include ongoing costs since the 439 children were returned to their families in June, including the salaries of caseworkers and attorneys still involved in the case, agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said. "We think this is the final cost of the operation," he said Wednesday. More than $4 million was spent on goods and services at Fort Concho and the San Angelo Coliseum, where FLDS children and some of their mothers were housed immediately following the raid. The "unified command center" set up there cost nearly $1 million. Another $1 million was spent on buses to take the children to foster-care facilities scattered around the Lone Star State. Foster-care placement, security and Medicaid cost Texas more than $3.3 million, the figures show. The numbers do not include court costs in the nation's largest child-custody case. A judge in San Angelo recently signed an order approving payment to hundreds of lawyers appointed by the courts to represent the children from the Utah-based polygamous sect. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas spent $12.4 million to remove women and children from polygamous ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Dallas Morning News Originally published Friday, November 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — The temporary care and shelter of women and children removed from a polygamous sect's Texas ranch cost the state more than $12.4 million, child welfare authorities said. The amount represents the final cost of the "San Angelo Mass Care Event," said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins. An accounting of expenses following the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch — the Eldorado, Texas, home of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — was reported in a copyrighted story Friday by the Deseret News. Some 439 children were removed from the ranch in April after an allegation of abuse. Dozens of women left with the children, living in temporary shelters in San Angelo before the state placed the children in group homes or foster care. Only one child remains in state custody and most families are no longer being supervised by the child welfare agency. Of the $12.4 million, $4 million was for goods and services at two temporary shelters. Nearly $1 million was spent on a "unified command center" and another $1 million went for buses to transport the children to housing across Texas. The combined costs of foster-care placement, security and Medicaid topped $3.3 million. Crimmins said the total does not include any ongoing costs associated with family supervision or court or attorney fees. Last week a district judge signed an order authorizing payments to hundreds of attorneys recruited to represent to children. The judge set a cap of $4,000 for hourly billing and $750 for travel and expenses. Texas' Health and Human Services Commission will pay those bills with funding from the state Legislature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas lawmen to be grilled by FLDS leader's attorneys | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyers for Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs have scheduled interviews with Texas authorities involved in the raid on the polygamous sect's YFZ Ranch. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, his deputy John Connor and Texas Ranger Brooks Long will be questioned next month at the San Angelo, Texas, offices of attorneys retained by the FLDS Church, a notice filed Friday in a Kingman, Ariz., court said. "Failure to appear for this deposition may result in sanctions including, but not limited to, dismissal of the prosecution, a ruling that the search of the YFZ Ranch in April 2008 was illegal and unconstitutional, or contempt of court against the deponent," Jeffs' criminal defense attorney Michael Piccarreta wrote in the notice. Piccarreta noted the lawmen could plead the Fifth Amendment or that any statement they gave could be used against them in future court cases. A judge has ordered the men to give interviews to Jeffs' criminal defense team, which wants to know what information and evidence from the raid was shared with Arizona authorities. Doran said the Texas Attorney General's Office will assist them in the depositions. "We have nothing to hide," the sheriff told the Deseret News. "We'll discuss whatever topic." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teen sect girl, her baby sought for gene testing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Friday, November 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A girl alleged to have been married to an adult at age 14 has become the new focus of the state's investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at a Schleicher County polygamist compound. In a brief hearing Thursday, the girl's attorney told 51st District Judge Barbara Walther her client was not present, torpedoing a planned hearing on a motion by the state's Child Protective Services agency that would have compelled the girl to produce her newborn child for DNA testing. "My client is not willing to appear voluntarily," said Kelly J. Ellis, the San Angelo attorney appointed to represent the girl. Walther rescheduled the hearing for Tuesday, ordering the girl, her mother and the newborn all to be present. According to the CPS motion, the girl gave birth June 14, just after Walther returned 439 children to their parents at the order of the Texas Supreme Court. The higher court ruled Walther should not have allowed the state to take emergency custody of all the children after its April raid on the YFZ Ranch northeast of Eldorado. Court documents do not list the exact age of the girl, nor do documents released in the course of the seven-month case provide any immediate indication of how old she is or reference to her parents, Sarah Barlow and Joseph Steed. According to the motion filed Nov. 14 by CPS' new lead attorney for the case, John R. Dolezal, the girl is still younger than 18 and was married at 14. The girl "has a child," Dolezal said in court Thursday. "In order for us to do our duties investigating sexual abuse, we need the child produced to do genetic testing. We're here in the best interests of (the girl), to protect her from sexual abuse." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS girl ordered to appear in court on baby's DNA testing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — A judge has ordered a girl alleged to have been married at age 14 to appear in court Tuesday for a hearing to compel her to produce her newborn baby for DNA testing. The San Angelo Standard-Times reported Friday that 51st District Judge Barbara Walther ordered the girl, her mother and the newborn child to be present after the girl's court-appointed attorney said she would not appear voluntarily. The newspaper said court papers indicated the girl gave birth to the baby on June 14, shortly after 439 children taken in the raid on the YFZ Ranch were returned to their families under orders from the Texas Supreme Court. The girl is still under 18, the Standard-Times reported, and CPS is seeking a DNA sample as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving children from the YFZ Ranch. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS trust wants to be dropped from child bride lawsuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A judge will decide if the Fundamentalist LDS Church's real-estate holdings arm should be on the hook in a former child bride's multimillion-dollar lawsuit. During a hearing Friday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court, lawyers representing the court-controlled United Effort Plan Trust asked to be dropped from Elissa Wall's lawsuit against the trust, the FLDS Church and its leader, Warren Jeffs. They argued that the conduct of Jeffs in performing a 2001 marriage between Wall and her 19-year-old cousin is not the conduct of the UEP Trust, which was recently reformed by the courts. "The fact that it happened doesn't make it doctrine," attorney Jeffrey L. Shields argued. "It doesn't mean the beneficiary class should be liable for the conduct of its trustees." Shields argued that those who would ultimately lose are women and children who live in trust-controlled homes in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. He also claimed Wall's suit could lead to a flood of litigation. "We're trying to protect minors. That's what this case is about," Wall's attorney, Roger Hoole, told the judge. "Elissa Wall wants no one to go through what she went through." Hoole argued that the trust and the church are one and the same, and that as a leader in the FLDS Church, Jeffs was the alter-ego of the UEP. The trust was created to preserve and promote the doctrines of the FLDS Church, which he claimed included underage marriages. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah cities stay afloat financially | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most well-managed, carefully balancing debt and cash flow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Rebecca Palmer, Joseph M. Dougherty and Jared Page Deseret News Originally published Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The tight global credit market is forcing some Utah towns to hold off on planned financing and requiring others to pay unexpectedly high interest rates for existing debt. Other cities are nervous about how their financing will be received in the marketplace. But compared with cities such as Vallejo, Calif., which has declared bankruptcy, and Kansas City, Kan., which can't finance a sewer system, most Utah cities are well-managed and have been careful to balance debt and cash flow, according to the results of a multi-jurisdictional survey by the Deseret News. Regardless, Park City is having to phase in financing for a needed water system. And Holladay, which last year instituted new taxes to pay for road repairs, could obtain financing for only part of its needs. West Bountiful is trying to fund $5 million in water bonds to upgrade its 50-year-old infrastructure. The city has been warned that finding investors is difficult, said city finance director Craig Howe. It's a similar story for Centerville, which is planning to build a multimillion-dollar performing arts center. Less imminent projects are being delayed for several months until record-high interest rates relax and corporations once again become interested in buying bonds. "There was a very quick freezing up of the (bond) market," said Kelly Murdock, senior vice president of Zions Bank and Salt Lake City's financial adviser. "Since that time, thankfully, the market is thawing out — albeit slowly. There's an abundance of cash on the sidelines out of concern of the direction of the economy." The Deseret News analyzed financial data from all Utah cities and towns with a population of 1,000 or more, as well as Utah's counties, to determine their levels of debt. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 FLDS members surrender in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Men were wanted by authorities on felony charges | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Monday, Nov. 24, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch has surrendered to authorities in rural Texas after being indicted by a grand jury. Fredrick Merril Jessop, 72, and other indicted FLDS members surrendered on Monday at the Schleicher County Sheriff's Office in the company of Texas Rangers and their attorneys. Jessop was indicted earlier this month on a charge of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, a third-degree felony. Documents seized from the YFZ Ranch by law enforcement and entered into court evidence indicated that Jessop performed a marriage ceremony between his 12-year-old daughter and FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. The girl, now 14, is back in foster care after a judge ruled her mother failed to protect her from abuse. Wendell Loy Nielsen, 68, another leader in the FLDS Church, surrendered to face three charges of bigamy, a third-degree felony. Nielsen owns NewEra Manufacturing. Leroy Johnson Steed, 42, surrendered on a charge of sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony; bigamy and tampering with physical evidence, both third-degree felonies. Steed was arrested on the evidence tampering charge in the early days of the raid but was only recently indicted. All three men were released after posting bond, the sheriff's office said. Nielsen and Jessop each posted $30,000; Steed posted $120,000. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist ranch leader indicted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published November 24, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SAN ANTONIO — A 72-year-old elder of a breakaway polygamist Mormon sect and two other church members surrendered to authorities Monday to face felony charges relating to the underage marriage of girls to older men. Fredrick "Merril" Jessop, a leader in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who oversaw the sect's West Texas ranch, faces one count of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor on July 27, 2006 — the same day one of his daughters was allegedly married to jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. She was 12 at the time and is now the only child from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in foster care after her mother refused to cooperate with child welfare authorities. A grand jury in Eldorado, Texas, indicted Jessop, Jeffs and two other members of FLDS on Nov. 12. Jeffs, convicted in Utah and awaiting trial in Arizona on charges related to underage marriages of sect girls, faces charges in Texas of sexual assault of a child and bigamy. The two other men who turned themselves in Monday are:
- Wendell Loy Nielsen, 68, charged with three counts of bigamy. The indictment includes few details, but church records released as part of a separate child custody case list 21 women married to Nielsen in August 2007. - Leroy Johnson Steed, 42, who is charged with sexual assault of a child, bigamy and tampering with evidence. Church records show Steed married to a 16-year-old girl in March 2007. All three men were booked Monday and then released after posting bond. "We've said all along we're not running. We're going to take it head on," said FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop. "The allegations they're making and what they're trying to do is nothing more than harassment." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leaders indicted - and jailed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Chuck Johnston CNN National Desk Originally published November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The patriarch of the world's biggest polygamist sect's compound in Eldorado, Texas turned himself in after being indicted on felony charges. Fredrick Merril Jessop, 72, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), is charged with one count of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, which is a third-degree felony. Jessop has been running the compound, called the Yearning for Zion Ranch, home to hundreds of church members. He was husband of Carolyn Jessop, who wrote in her best-selling book, "Escape" about their marriage and life in the FLDS, and her frightening escape from Merril Jessop and the compound with her children. Carolyn Jessop and others have said girls as young 11 have been forced into polygamists marriages with older men, boys have been ejected from the sect on trumped up infractions, and children have been beaten. Two other FLDS elders were also charged, and turned themselves in. Wendell Loy Nieslen, 68, is charged with three counts of third-degree felony bigamy. Leroy Johnson Steed, 42, is charged with one count of sexual assault of a child, one count of second-degree felony bigamy, one count of third-degree felony bigamy, and one count of tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS leader Jessop arrested | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Tuesday, November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredrick Merril Jessop - the patriarch of a Schleicher County polygamous compound accused of orchestrating or condoning at least 10 marriages alleged to have occurred between underage girls and adult men - turned himself in Monday to Schleicher County officials and was released on bond. Jessop and two others, indicted Nov. 12 by a Schleicher County grand jury, arrived at the Schleicher County Sheriff's Office shortly before noon Monday and were released on bond soon after, sheriff's personnel said. Jessop, 72, believed to be the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since the arrest of its self-styled prophet, Warren Jeffs, was indicted on a charge of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, a third-degree felony. He was released after posting $30,000 bond. Wendell Loy Nielsen, 68, was released on $30,000 bond - $10,000 each for three counts of bigamy, a third-degree felony. Leroy Johnson Steed, 42, was released on $120,000 bond after being arrested on four charges - first-degree felony sexual assault of a child, which carries a $100,000 bond, and three others: second-degree felony bigamy, third-degree felony bigamy and third-degree felony tampering with physical evidence. Jeffs also was indicted on a charge of first-degree felony sexual assault of a child, his third indictment since the grand jury began meeting this summer. In Texas, a first-degree felony is punishable by 5 to 99 years in prison; a second-degree felony is punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison; and a third-degree felony is punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 FLDS members face felony charges | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Lisa Sandberg San Antonio Express-News Originally published November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN — The leader of a West Texas polygamist group and two other church members surrendered to authorities Monday after being indicted earlier this month in connection with underage marriages at the ranch where they live. Frederick "Merril" Jessop, 72, believed to be the most senior leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints outside Eldorado, was charged with one count of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony, a third degree felony. He dropped out of sight after authorities raided the group's ranch in April, though an FLDS spokesman insisted he was never in hiding. Wendell Loy Nielson, 68, who was shown in court records to have been simultaneously married to 21 women, was charged with three, third-degree felony bigamy charges; Leroy Johnson Steed, 42, was charged with sexual assault of a child, bigamy, and tampering with physical evidence. The three men, who were booked and released on bond, were indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury Nov. 12. A total of 12 members from the breakaway Mormon sect now have been brought up on felony charges related to underage unions. The group is not affiliated with mainstream Mormonism, which denounced polygamy more than a century ago. Willie Jessop, a spokesman for the group, on Monday called the state's case baseless and said it was concocted to justify its failed child custody case. In April, acting on a tip, Texas Child Protective Services seized the group's 400-plus children, alleging that the girls were being sexually abused or at risk of being sexually abused and the boys were being groomed to perpetuate the practice of underage marriages. Two months later, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the state overreached and ordered the children returned to their parents. CPS has since dropped its oversight over most of the children. Child welfare authorities are expected back in a San Angelo family courtroom on Tuesday to seek access to a 5-month-old baby they believe was born to an underage mother wedded to an adult man. CPS said in court papers it wanted the child "for inspection, observation and genetic testing." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texan polygamy leader charged in child abuse case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Hannah Strange The Times - London, England Originally published November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A leader of a Texan polygamist sect and two other church members have surrendered to authorities to face felony charges over the marriage of underage girls to older men. Fredrick "Merril" Jessop, 72, an elder from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), oversaw its Yearning for For Zion Ranch in west Texas, which in April was raided by state police amid allegations of rape, forced marriage and child abuse. He faces one count of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor on July 27, 2006 - the same day his 12-year-old daughter was allegedly married to jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. The girl is now the only child from the ranch still in foster care after her mother refused to cooperate with child welfare authorities. At the height of the abuse case, which rocked a country where polygamy is usually pushed to the far reaches of the national consciousness, 439 children were removed from the compound and taken into state custody. However, they were later ordered to be returned to their parents due to a lack of evidence of abuse in all but a handful of cases. Some three dozen remain under court oversight. In all, 12 FLDS men have been indicted since the raid, during which authorities found safes stuffed with cash and a tousled bed in the compound temple, which they suspect was used for the consummation of "celestial" marriages. A grand jury in Eldorado, Texas, indicted Mr Jeffs, Mr Jessop, Wendell Loy Nielsen and Leroy Johnson Steed on November 12. Only Mr Jeffs’ name had been released before yesterday, when the other three men were booked and released after posting bond. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former FLDS Member Talks About Being Kicked Out | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Originally broadcast November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DENVER (CBS4) -- A Denver area man claims he was thrown out of the polygamist group the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). It separated him from his wife and children including two who are severely handicapped. Shelly Cooke spent most of his life in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, but when a dispute came up, he was kicked out. He say his family was reassigned. Cooke came to Denver to find a new life. He says he grew up in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, the twin cities called "Short Creek." "Short Creek" is the longtime polygamist community controlled by the FLDS whose prophet Warren Jeffs is now behind bars. CBS4 asked Cooke if he thinks polygamy is bad? "That's a very hard thing for me to answer," he said. "I'm the son of a second wife. If polygamy wasn't there I don't know if I would be." "I was forced out I was suddenly, no warning at all, I was told I was done," Cooke said. He claims Warren Jeffs ordered him out of the FLDS in a dispute over the care of his severely handicapped daughter who later died. "I had children there," Cooke said. "I was no longer allowed to see. I had handicapped children that needed medication and needed care." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State seeks DNA of sect baby | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press Dallas Morning News Originally published November 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas child welfare authorities have asked a judge to order a teenage member of a polygamist sect to allow them to examine her newborn and collect DNA to determine if the baby's father is an adult. Child Protective Services said in a court filing that the girl gave birth to the baby June 14, less than two weeks after she and the other 438 children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch were returned from foster care to their parents. The girl is a minor and CPS believes she was married to an adult male in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14, said attorney John Dolezal in the Nov. 14 motion requesting a court order. He said efforts to get the girl to voluntarily allow CPS to examine the newborn and collect DNA have been rebuffed. A hearing on the issue is scheduled before Texas District Judge Barbara Walther on Tuesday afternoon. CPS collected DNA from all the children swept from the ranch in Eldorado in April, but the baby was born after the teen mother was returned to her parents. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in late May that the state had overreached in placing all the children in foster care when it could show no more than a handful of teenage girls had been abused. The children were returned in early June, and only one, a teenage girl whose mother wouldn't cooperate with child welfare authorities, has been returned to foster care. All but 36 of the children's cases have been dropped from court oversight. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teen refuses to say where polygamist sect baby is | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Michelle Roberts The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — A teenage member of a polygamist sect refused Tuesday to tell a judge where her baby is so authorities can collect a DNA sample and determine whether she was illegally married off to an adult. The girl repeatedly refused at a court hearing to answer the judge and attorneys for Texas Child Protective Services about the infant's whereabouts. "She is living out of state. ... I just don't want anyone to know where she is," said the 17-year-old, who was wearing a dark blue prairie dress and her hair braided back, the typical style of female members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The hearing was halted as attorneys for both sides met in the judge's chambers Tuesday afternoon to decide what to do next. State officials believe the girl was married to a man in FLDS when she was 14, attorney John Dolezal said in the Nov. 14 motion requesting a court order. In Texas, someone under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
