Harsh rules, sex assault described inside Jeffs' sect

Nephew testifies of settlement with uncle

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A polygamist sect leader convicted of sexually assaulting two underage girls ruled his followers with a heavy hand, banning parades, dancing, Sports Illustrated magazine and even the color red, a sect member testified Saturday at his sentencing.

Warren Jeffs, 55, is the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. More than 10,000 followers consider him God's spokesman on Earth. A jury convicted him Thursday of sexually assaulting two underage girls he took as brides and could sentence him to up to life in prison.

In the sentencing phase of the trial, prosecutors have been trying to show that Jeffs ruled the FLDS with a far heavier and crueler hand than his father, whom Jeffs succeeded in 2002. Ezra Draper, who was raised in the sect, returned to the witness stand and testified that while Rulon Jeffs allowed fun activities such as parades and dances, his son put a stop to them after he rose to power.

Also Saturday, a nephew of Jeffs told the jury that his uncle sexually abused him as a young boy.  Brent Jeffs testified that his uncle sodomized him when he was 5 years old. Warren Jeffs never was charged with sexually assaulting his nephew, but Brent Jeffs says he and his uncle reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed in 2003. The settlement involved some land.

                                           EZRA DRAPER

Draper recounted how Jeffs admonished him when he was 14 for liking a girl. Draper said Jeffs tapped his crotch with a yardstick and said it was better for him to lose one part of his body than risk all of it suffering in eternal damnation.

"I felt that this man was telling me to cut off my penis," Draper said.

He testified that Jeffs threw out copies of Sports Illustrated and Car and Driver found in the boys' bedrooms. Books that featured talking animals were banned because Jeffs considered it teaching lies. Even the color red was prohibited, Draper said. 

The charges against Jeffs stemmed from a 2008 police raid on a remote compound in west Texas. The call that led to the raid turned out to be a hoax, but while on the property, officers saw underage girls who were clearly pregnant. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Jeffs fathered a child with one victim when she was 15. They played an audiotape of what they said was him sexually assaulting the other victim when she was 12.

Jeffs represented himself during the trial, but walked out of his sentencing in protest Friday. He has been held in another room in the courthouse and can return to the hearing whenever he wishes. He was not in the courtroom Saturday. District Judge Barbara Walther ordered Jeffs' stand-by counsel to represent him, but having been sidelined by Jeffs for the last two weeks, attorney Deric Walpole struggled Saturday to keep up with witnesses and evidence he was seeing for the first time. At one point, Walpole jumped from his chair to object while a former FLDS member testified. He asked Walther to have the jury leave the courtroom. "I have no idea what that man is getting ready to say," Walpole said.

Walther overruled the objection. Jeffs burned through a slate of seven high-powered attorneys, including Walpole, in the six months before he decided to represent himself, and Walther has said he did so in an effort to manipulate the court and stall the case against him.  Walpole declined to say whether he'll call witnesses during the sentencing phase. He has indicated that his plea for leniency will focus on Jeffs being a product of his environment and a culture that hasn't changed for centuries.

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Polygamy Cult’s New Idol

Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for child sex—but that’s not stopping his flock from secretly erecting a giant statue of the cult leader. By Carol McKinley

It took a West Texas jury less than half an hour yesterday to sentence polygamy cult leader Warren Jeffs to life in prison for the rape of a 12-year-old “wife,” plus 20 more years for the sexual assault of another “wife,” this one 15. Of Jeffs’ 78 known “celestial” wives, prosecutors revealed 24 were under age, with 12 under 16. “Hallelujah!” said one of his many brothers, many of whom Jeffs, fearful of rivals, exiled from his sect. “I hope I never have to see him again in this lifetime.”

But many of his followers still think Jeffs did nothing wrong. Despite a new recording revealed Monday, which documents Jeffs having group sex in an alleged baptismal font with five females including a 13-year-old and two of his own sisters; despite the new testimony of a nephew who says his uncle raped him when Jeffs was still a church school principal; despite the now-convicted felon’s nasty habit of ripping families apart, and reassigning them to other men like chess pieces—his flock is now constructing a three-story statue of their self-proclaimed prophet, according to a trusted source, who has confirmed the details from two different people involved in the edifice’s construction.

The statue, according to this source, is planned to go up next month at the activity center of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints’ (FLDS) compound in Short Creek, on the Utah/Arizona border. At 38 feet, it will tower over a town where most of the buildings are one-story ranches and trailer homes.

The gargantuan metal prophet is being constructed in seven pieces in a clandestine warehouse whose windows have been papered over in San Angelo, Texas, where Jeffs’ trial is being held, according to the source. The project is secret, or as FLDS term it, a “heavenly hush,” which means that anyone who discusses it will be kicked out of the sect. The inside source says that those building the statue believe that this their “way of showing them that they can’t take him away from us.” 

Ex-FLDS members who live in Short Creek, and have been abused by Jeffs for years, are not happy about the prospect of his likeness looking over their high-desert home.  And they say the mere idea of dedicating a statue of any kind is akin to blasphemy.  “This flies in the face of their religion!” says former sect member Isaac Wyler. “It is just as much against their principles as group sex! The FLDS can’t have idols. Idols are absolutely forbidden!”

Jeffs himself once ordered a granite stone dedicated to another prophet pulverized. The stone was a modest three-foot hand-made monument commemorating Leroy “Uncle Roy” Johnson, who led the FLDS for some 40 years before Jeffs and his father took over. Says Wyler, “Warren had that thing powdered to dust.” 

“Remember what happened to Saddam Hussein’s statue,” says Willie Jessup, a former Jeffs’ bodyguard, who left the sect in December after viewing the child sex evidence, when told about the new statue. “That same thing will happen to this one.”

“ Those building the statue believe that this their “way of showing them that they can’t take him away from us.” 

Apparently, most of Jeffs' followers still don’t know about the evidence presented against him. As The Daily Beast has previously reported a goon squad patrols the compound to enforce a no-media policy, including an Internet ban.

That wasn’t an issue for the jury of 10 women and two men, who decided yesterday that Jeffs should finish his life in prison. Directly after his sentencing, Jeffs was flown under heavy security to an intake facility in Huntsville, Texas, 60 miles north of Houston.  There he’ll be interviewed, photographed, and given a physical exam.  After a week, he’ll be sent to a permanent prison home to be decided later, where it will be tough to get holy messages to his followers, or view images of the statue apparently going up shortly.

(Courtesy of Carol McClinley, Daily Beast) 
 

FLORA JESSOP - Reaction to the guilty verdict

FLORA JESSOP

 I escaped from polygamy 15 years ago and now live in Phoenix,  Arizona with my husband and two children. I fought for my freedom, just as the children trapped today fight for their right to be free. After turning to DCFS for protection, I was sent back to the polygamy compound, into the cult I asked them to protect me from. I was severely punished for running away and spent the next three years in seclusion, held hostage by my uncle Fred Jessop, and kept from my siblings and even my mother.  In April, 2001, my fourteen year old little sister, Ruby, was married to her stepbrother, Haven Barlow. Ruby also had the courage to run away and sought her brothers help. After one week, she was returned to the polygamy compound and disappeared.
  When I contacted Utah authorities in DCFS and the Washington County Sheriff's Office for help to get my sister the protection she needed they agreed to help. They did not do so, however. After meeting with DCFS in St. George, where I was promised help for Ruby, I found they thwarted my efforts.  After thirty five days, they finally met with Ruby but once again failed to enforce the child protection laws they are mandated to support.  Ruby and I were both betrayed by the very system that is responsible for protecting children from sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, statutory rape, coercion, and forced marriage. These rights are guaranteed to all children but those living inside polygamy remain unprotected.
  I have vowed to stop this injustice and am now focusing on demanding that a federal prosecutor be named to intervene on behalf of these neglected children.
  Both Utah and Arizona have repeatedly and long term failed to protect children in polygamy from abuses of all kinds. Ruby is a hostage. No one has seen or heard from her for ? days. Please help us publicize this travesty of justice.  I am working with others to establish a foundation to help children escape polygamy  so they can secure the rights all other citizens enjoy in this democracy.  These children need help completing their educations, finding homes, jobs and adjusting to a world they know little about. 

(Source: http://helpthechildbrides.com/stories/florajessopautobio.htm)

She has been active since the early 2000s in anti-child abuse work particularly focusing on the plight of women and children in the FLDS. She founded an organization, "Help the Child Brides" (later dissolved) and later joined "Child Protection Project" with fellow activist Linda Walker. We Will be writing about Flora at a later date. This page doesn't do her justice, but we wanted you to have a glimpse of this wonderful lady who has spent her life helping others.

Survivor! Every girls nightmare, every girls fear, Why can't people understand      when we shed these awful tears? Crying has never been my way      I try to hide the pain but sometimes when I stop and think      I feel it all again The awful sickening feeling      of his body next to mine and the sound of clothing ripping      all reality is gone. I try to shut the sound out      pretend it isn't true but the feeling wouldn't go away      and there was nothing I could do The pain, the hurt, the fury      that I've felt from that day on Never ever seems to stop      just keeps coming on I wish I could forget about      that awful summer night but there was nothing I could do      but run away in fright My body was so hot and bloody      the wounds were deep, so sore Every muscle in my body      felt like they'd been torn I hate my body, hate my soul,      my life, must it go on? And to every girl in this world      I hope they never feel The pain, the hurt, the fury,      that, to me, is very real. 11-14-1987

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DR. DREW - How We Escaped our FLDS Nightmare

The FLDS doesn't consider abuses against women a crime.DR. DREW was joined by two women Tuesday night who escaped the FLDS, which they say was a living Hell.

ELISSA WALL, author of "Stolen Innocence", spent 18 years in an FLDS compound. She was forced by WARREN JEFFS to marry her own cousin when she was 14.
FLORA JESSOP fled the FLDS when she was 15. She has been an outspoken advocate for those who have managed to leave the FLDS life. DR. DREW discusses how women are treated by the FLDS men. 

DR. DREW - Warren Jeffs Threatens Judge's Life

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DR. DREW - Why Do Women Stay in Polygamist Sects?

We are going to catch up on our Dr. Drew, then stick with him daily. Thought and Comments Below! We sincerely want to hear from former or current FLDS women. Use Anonymous to feel comfortable if you wish. 

IF YOU HAVE TO PICK AND CHOOSE, WATCH THESE AND THE FLICKS BELOW ON BILL MAHER AND WARREN JEFFS TRIAL TAPE.

Some background on the ladies you'll see.

CATHY JO NICHOLSON - was raised in a polygamous household where Warren Jeffs was her school teacher.  She eventually escaped that life.  Cathy Jo is with is here today for a discussion of the FLDS church.  R – According to the affidavit investigators at the Eldorado, Texas compound observed a practice in which  female children of child bearing age (13 or 14 years of age) are “spiritually married to a male adult member of the church.”  As a former member is this surprising to you?  “No, not at all, at least not in recent years.  Since Warren took over for his father this became a more prevalent practice.  Meryl Jessop has taken the reins while Warren is in jail.  Meryl became notorious for giving his very young beautiful daughters up to the prophets.  I know of several of his daughters who were given to Rulon Jeffs when he was on his death bed.  This was done to supposedly seal his place in heaven and then these women were inherited by Warren Jeffs when his father passed the monarchy to him.”  R – Also according to this affidavit children were denied food and forced to sit inside closed closets as punishment.  When you were a member of the FLDS does this sound like his brand of discipline?  “Definitely – at that time he (Jeffs) was not the prophet but he did send down his decree of ‘today we fast and also tomorrow.’  I remember thinking to myself it’s so much easier after the third day to ignore your hunger.  He would beat the boys and close the girls in.  This did not go on in my private home but at school.  We needed to mind the headmaster (Warren Jeffs).  The fasting took place throughout the community.”  R – The raid was the result of a 16 year old girl’s call to a family violence shelter.  When she called she used someone else’s cell phone and whispered.  FLDS leaders told her that if she left or ran away she would be found and locked up.  R- When you escaped what did you think would happen to you?  “I believe they still tell those young women ‘they are free to leave but you’ll never see us again or have any support from us.’  “You’re not free to go when you have no resources, or outside information which you can study or become familiar with.”  There are virtual walls up, ‘yes you can step across the border and be free (which is what I did) but those virtual walls and threats of hell and eternal damnation are very strong and scary to these women.”  I’m so grateful to Texas and Utah for convicting Warren Jeffs and the young Wall girl who stepped forward and now this young 16 year old girl who has yet to be determined.  I’m so grateful that Texas has undertaken this huge task and done it so diplomatically so far.  My sister is in Colorado City…  I have family members whose whereabouts are unknown.  I only cry out if anybody knows of the Nicholson family – sisters and brothers.” 

LAURIE ALLEN - was born into the infamous and violent LeBaron polygamous sect. Her uncle Ervil LeBaron killed 28 people, and became known as the Mormon Manson. Her cousin Jacqueline Tarsa LeBaron is on the FBI's Most Wanted list. When she was eight, a polygamist kidnapped Laurie from Chihuahua, got in some trouble with the law, and eventually fled to Central America, keeping her as his interpreter. Laurie fought off the religious indoctrination, escaped at age sixteen, and found passage back to the United States. Fluent in Spanish and dedicated to freedom and human rights, she earned a college degree and went on to film school. BANKING ON HEAVEN exposes a cult similar to the one that nearly absorbed her when she was very young and vulnerable.Now Laurie Allen is a filmmaker with a vision and a goal. Her background makes her the one filmmaker who could write and  produce BANKING ON HEAVEN, a documentary about the abuse and corruption inherent in America’s polygamous sects.

(Source: CNN: Video and Cathy Jo Nicholson Bio; Bankingonheavon.com for Lauri Allen )
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