You woke up in the hospital to find that more than six weeks had passed and your children had been taken away again by the FLDS. That must have been awful. Waking up from a coma to find out that the children were gone again, and there was absolutely nothing I could do physically to get them back, was devastating. Your father, Rulon Jeffs, became the prophet. How many half-siblings did you have? My father sired 65 children during his lifetime.
I was about right in the middle, somewhere in the 30s. I was kind of the odd duck because my mother only had two children, where some of the other mothers had 10 or Also, my mother was different because she was one of the breadwinners of the family. She was my guardian, and I lived with her most of my childhood. What was Warren like as a child and young adult? You talk about how his mother groomed him for leadership. His mother, right from his birth, felt he was destined to become a prophet, a great leader within the FLDS Church.
The fact that he survived as a preemie was a sign to her that he had some kind of a great calling. He learned to manipulate because his mother taught him how.
He believed he could do no wrong. A really classic case of narcissism. As an adult, you became successful in business, which meant the church started to depend on you financially. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Recommended The end of the world Authorities on alert after cult leader Warren Jeffs sentenced to life term for sexual assault Warren Jeffs awaits child sex sentencing Polygamist Warren Jeffs guilty of sexual assaults on girls.
Already subscribed? Log in. In May , the former wife gave Fox 10 Phoenix a tour of the home she used to reside in with Jeffs. Decker called Jeffs a "pedophile" and noted that she didn't think he "was really that interested" in her because she wasn't very young when they united.
She claimed the marriage was never consummated. Mildred "Millie" Blackmore was just 13 years old when she married Jeffs in Canadian authorities tried to locate her years later, and according to her brother, she had returned to her native polygamous community in Canada. Things started to change once his father began to separate him from the rest of the family and community, a tactic that Warren Jeffs commonly used to punish members of the polygamous breakaway sect of Mormons whom he said needed to repent.
At 14, Roy Jeffs was sent to a ranch in Wyoming, this time without his mother, while the rest of his family lived on the Yearning For Zion Ranch about 5 miles northeast of Eldorado, which had a little less than 2, residents at the time.
He has 54 full and half siblings. Eventually, the teen received a call from Warren Jeffs, who was incarcerated at the time, telling him his punishment had ended.
He returned to YFZ Ranch but was allowed to stay only three weeks because he confessed to his father that he was attracted to some of his father's wives — those who were also 14 years old. Warren Jeffs has up to 80 wives, according to some estimates. His wives include those of his father, Rulon Jeffs, because he married all but two of his father's surviving plural wives when Rulon Jeffs died in ; they numbered about You've got to do it as an insurance policy.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not the only Mormon denomination that believes in plural marriage, which polygamists call celestial marriage. But it is the only one with a compound that Texas authorities raided April 4, , taking children into state custody after the Texas police received a tip claiming sexual abuse within the isolated religious sect.
In April , the state of Texas seized the 1,acre property, about miles southwest of Dallas, after church leaders did not contest a forfeiture order. In the aftermath of the ranch raid and squabbles with Utah state officials about managing a land trust that encompasses much of Hildale, Utah, church members now appear to have scattered more widely.
By , the teen was sent to the twin communities of Colorado City, Ariz. In , he was sent out to work. By the time he left the church, he had not been allowed to see or speak with his mother for two years. Now, they have not communicated for six years. His father wouldn't be in prison without it.
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