Warren Jeffs: The Numerous Brides & Sex Crimes of a Polygamist 'Prophet'

February 19, 2018
By: Mike McPadden

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Warren Jeffs during his arrest near Las Vegas- August 28, 2006 courtesy of Nevada Highway Patrol.

Warren Jeffs during his arrest near Las Vegas- August 28, 2006 courtesy of Nevada Highway Patrol.

Photo by: Nevada Highway Patrol

Nevada Highway Patrol

PALESTINE, TX — Now 62 years old, Warren Jeffs — the self-anointed “President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) — runs his Mormon-rooted religion from a prison cell in Texas.

The six-foot-three, polygamy-preaching, incest-confessing, white supremacist, child rapist is serving life in prison plus 20 years, specifically for consummating “marriages” with two of his “brides” — girls aged 12 and 15.

In reality, Warren Jeffs’ litany of illegal transgressions extends harrowingly beyond just that pair of atrocities.

Jeffs’ actual crimes are almost all sexual in nature and he overwhelmingly committed them against children — including his own sister and daughter).

As the FLDS under Jeffs spread in the 2000s from Utah into Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas, more and more devastated victims suffered everywhere.

And all that is to mention nothing of Jeffs’ distasteful teachings such as that dark-skinned people are “cursed” agents of the devil and that homosexuality is “the worst evil you can do, next to murder.”

Jeffs personally took as many as 78 wives. Many of them were not just underage, but also related by blood to one another — bred to worship their supposed representative of the “Heavenly Father” on earth.

Jeffs also “married” numerous other children to male followers and instructed them all in proper grooming and rape techniques that he deemed “Heavenly Sessions.”

Grotesquely, Jeffs made numerous recordings of such practices, and he used them to further inculcate victims into his corruption of Christianity (a notion that began with him forcing followers to accept him as nothing less than Jesus Christ Incarnate).

Law enforcement initially took a hard look at the FLDS in 2004, following allegations that Jeffs raped his five-year-old nephew after a “family meeting,” whereupon he told the child:

“This is between me and you and God.”

Years later, the grown boy and his female cousin would testify in court against their uncle — as would an array of other survivors.

The following year, Utah prosecutors charged Jeffs as an accomplice to rape for his marrying 14-year-old Elissa Wall to her 19-year-old first cousin she referred to as “Uncle Rulon.”

After being repeatedly brutalized by “Uncle Rulon,” Wall fled and blew the whistle on the horrors being perpetrated in general by the FLDS, and specifically behind the walls of Jeffs’ compound — called Yearning for Zion (YFZ) — in Eldorado, Texas.

In 2006, then, Jeffs promptly hit the road and hid out among FLDS acolytes throughout the Southwest — including his brother, who temporarily escaped FBI custody. While on the lam, Jeffs continued to perform “child bride” wedding ceremonies.

During their hunt, the FBI placed Jeffs at #2 on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, just one notch below another allegedly faith-based monstrosity — Osama bin Laden.

After several months, a fluke traffic stop nabbed Jeffs in Nevada. Authorities removed more than 400 abused children from the YFZ compound. Of Jeffs’ 78 known wives, 56 of the girls were each other’s sisters, and 24 were under the age of 17.

After being tried in Utah, Jeffs got 10 years. Horribly, then, a technicality ended up voiding his conviction, which only prompted Texas to prosecute him with Lone Star State–sized zeal.

During closing arguments of that trial, Assistant Texas Attorney General Eric Nichols told the court:

“Mr. Jeffs had his big house, where he chose to warehouse hundreds of girls and women for his sexual gratification. The state of Texas has a big house too, and that is where Warren Jeffs should spend the rest of his days.”

The jury took just 30 minutes to find Jeffs guilty of any and all charges. The judge gave him life plus 20 years. For the Prophet Priest President, though, prison has simply complicated his rule over the FLDS, rather than obliterating it.

Warren Jeffs continues to oversee and effectively operate the church from behind bars. He regularly publishes dispatches, and communicates with his thousands of disciples.

The FLDS has never officially named anyone as Jeffs’ successor.

His 2012 book, Jesus Christ Message to All Nations, consists of revelations he claims came directly from the title figure. Foremost among them is that God demands for Warren Jeffs to be freed immediately.

No surprise there — and no way is that happening.

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