| IN DEPTH: Mesquite woman fled polygamist sect at 14 Volunteer helps others adjust after leaving | |
|
By Brian Haynes and Glenn Puit Las Vegas Review Journal | |
MESQUITE - Sara Hammon was just 14 when faced with the most important decision of her life. She could remain in an isolated polygamist community or defy her religious teachings to escape to the outside world. She chose the latter, and several years later, the 31-year-old Mesquite resident said she has no regrets about fleeing a childhood scarred by chronic incest and molestation. "My dad had 75 children and 19 wives, so we were one of the larger families," she said. "They had to segregate us (by gender) because there is an incest problem in Colorado City. It's difficult to keep an eye on that many children." Hammon's father, Marion Hammon, in the 1970s was a prominent leader in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. He was considered a possible prophet who one day might lead the sect, but when infighting broke out, he and a group of friends split off in the mid-'80s. Leaving their families in Colorado City, the men moved a few miles down the highway to form the Centennial Park community. Their families continued the polygamous lifestyle but swore allegiance to the new leaders. Growing up, Hammon and her siblings followed strict religious teachings. They wore pioneer clothing. Girls had to braid their hair. They went to church on Sundays and prayed together twice a day. "We ate all three meals together," she said. "There were 30 kids in my generation, so we had to eat lunch in shifts." Unlike some of her siblings, Hammon recognized early on during trips to St. George, Utah, that her family was different. She also recalled feeling oppressed even as a young child. "We weren't allowed to associate with boys in the community," she said. "In fact, once my brother got up in church and said, 'My sisters walked the streets like common harlots,' because we would stop and talk to boys as we were walking down the streets." Much of her childhood was traumatic, she said. "My father did not know my name," Hammon said. "The first question he would have to ask is, 'What's your name and who's your mother?' He had no idea. He was 69 when I was born. Then, he had 12 kids after me. He had no clue who we were." The worst part of her childhood was the sexual abuse, she said. "I was the victim of incest," she said. "As far as physical and sexual abuse, there were 12 perpetrators in my house. It's life-altering, damaging to the soul, and it's minimized." By age 13, Hammon was contemplating running away. She found an opportunity when one of her sisters arranged a baby-sitting job in the St. George area. She struck up a relationship with the family she worked for, eventually asking them to take her in. "I just liked how their family was," Hammon said. "It was one mother, one dad. They were normal to me, and I craved normal." Facing a wedding shortly after her 15th birthday, Hammon left the group at 14. It took more than a decade for Hammon to adjust to the outside world. Today she volunteers for the HOPE Organization in St. George, which helps women and men adjust to life after leaving their polygamous communities. "Women are second-class citizens in Colorado City," Hammon said. "They have to answer to their husbands, and they have to ask their husbands for everything. The man makes the decisions, period. The women are sometimes allowed to give their input, but it's not often considered." Hammon works as a real estate agent in Mesquite, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where she has lived since 1998. In 2004 she began to notice FLDS members moving in to Mesquite and setting up companies. Locals and investigators of the sect estimate as many as 200 FLDS followers live in Mesquite. Hammon has spotted them, wearing long dresses and braided hair, shopping and working at the local Wal-Mart, and she gets comments from friends who tell her, "I saw one of your people today." They're attracted to Mesquite for the booming construction economy and affordable housing, investigators said. Many businesses with FLDS ties have opened in Mesquite and Las Vegas in recent years. Hammon suspects most of the money generated by the companies is funneled to the church, which is building compounds around the country, including a gleaming white temple near Eldorado, Texas, that dominates the landscape. She said she doesn't know if the FLDS followers are in Mesquite for the long haul or simply there to make money before being ordered to one of the group's compounds. If they stay, the city will be faced with increased domestic violence, a booming birth rate and other problems associated with the group, she said. "This is not just about Colorado City and its isolated society," Hammon said. "They are now integrating into our society, and this will affect all of us at some point." | |
|
ReviewJournal.com Originally published September 16, 2007 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
