FLDS

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Polygamist With 20 Spiritual 'Wives' Gets 50 Years

Samuel Bateman ran an offshoot of Warren Jeffs' sect, 'married' underage girls

(Newser) - A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual "wives" including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap...

After Fleeing FLDS, Running Became Her Saving Grace

Paige Kaptuch of Runner's World looks at how a running club has helped a community heal

(Newser) - When Darlene Barlow Stubbs was growing up in Short Creek, Arizona, she wasn't allowed to have toys, a bike, or even books. Under the new leadership of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prophet Warren Jeffs, a sect of the Mormon church, strict changes in what was...

Why All Eyes Are On Elections in a Remote Utah Town

Polygamist FLDS group seems to be losing long-held grasp on the town—including local politics

(Newser) - In a place where political contests are virtually unknown, campaign signs offer the latest hint that a polygamous group is losing its grip on a remote community on the Utah-Arizona border. "For Hildale mayor vote Donia," reads a sign featuring Donia Jessop, a candidate pictured with a contemporary...

Warren Jeffs Ordered to Pay $16M to a Former Child Bride

Elissa Wall was forced to marry her cousin at 14

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs must pay $16 million to a woman he pressured to marry her cousin when she was just 14. Elissa Wall, a child bride within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was awarded $4 million in damages and $12 million in punitive damages Tuesday, some 12...

Polygamous Leader Found Guilty of Having 25 Wives

Another former leader of the community found guilty of having 5 wives

(Newser) - Two former leaders of an isolated polygamous community in Canada were convicted Monday of practicing polygamy after a decades-long legal fight, setting up another potential court battle over the constitutionality of Canada's polygamy laws. Winston Blackmore, 60, and James Oler, 53, were found guilty by British Columbia Supreme Court...

Polygamist Fugitive May Have Been 'Raptured': Attorney

Lyle Jeffs' attorney appears (we hope) to be joking with latest theory on disappearance

(Newser) - Lyle Jeffs' lawyer really wishes she could consult with him regarding a food stamp fraud trial involving 11 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fox 13 reports. But the polygamist leader of the FLDS, who the New York Daily News notes had been under house...

Warren Jeffs' Brother Literally Slips From FBI's Grasp

Thanks to ... olive oil?

(Newser) - The brother of jailed polygamous Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs is on the run from the FBI after using "some sort of lubrication, possibly olive oil," to wriggle out of his ankle monitor, say police. Lyle Jeffs, one of 11 leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ...

Feds: Mormon Offshoot Turned Kids Into Laborers

Church in hot water allegedly pulling children from school to pick pecans

(Newser) - A fundamentalist Mormon church faces legal action from the Department of Labor after allegedly using young children to harvest pecans. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints members Dale Barlow and Brian Jessop, and Paragon Contractors were fined $1.9 million yesterday for violating federal child labor laws, reports...

Texas Moves to Seize Warren Jeffs' Ranch

He's imprisoned, but his polygamist sect remains on 1,600-acre spread

(Newser) - Texas authorities succeeded in getting polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs locked up for life for sexually abusing underage girls, and now they want to shut down the massive ranch where his followers still live, reports the Salt Lake Tribune . The state attorney general today took the first step in seizing...

Polygamous Towns in Arizona, Utah Sued by Feds

Fed suit says non-members of FLDS targeted for harassment

(Newser) - Two adjoining towns on the Utah-Arizona border are being sued by the Justice Department, which charges that the polygamous towns are discriminating against nonbelievers in the area, reports the AP . The bulk of residents belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a group controlled by...

Warren Jeffs Taps 15 Men to Father All Followers' Kids

Imprisoned FLDS leader issues edict, say sources

(Newser) - Imprisoned pedophile Warren Jeffs has issued an edict from his Texas cell naming 15 men who are to father all children conceived among his polygamy followers, sources have revealed. Sex is forbidden for all others, even married men, who will only serve as family "caretakers" for children fathered by...

Polygamist Warren Jeffs Hospitalized

Convicted rapist not eating, drinking in Texas prison

(Newser) - Convicted rapist and polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sent to a Texas hospital last night after refusing to eat or drink enough in prison, the AP reports. Facing a life behind bars without parole until he is at least 100 years old, 55-year-old Jeffs "hasn't been feeling well,...

FLDS Erecting Giant Statue of Jeffs

Colossal metal prophet to tower over FLDS compound

(Newser) - With their leader locked up until after his 100th birthday, his devoted followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints are turning to the next best thing: A 38-foot-tall statue of Warren Jeffs. Members of the polygamist sect are secretly assembling a colossal metal statue of Jeffs which will...

Jeffs Will Lead Church From Behind Bars

FLDS members probably aren't aware of case details

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs will spend the rest of his life in prison, but that's not likely to affect his ability to lead his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, say former church members and expert. Followers of Jeffs' polygamist cult are likely to still revere him as...

Warren Jeffs Accused of Importing Child Brides

Girls, 12 and 13, brought to Jeffs from Canada: records

(Newser) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs had three underage brides smuggled to him from over the Canadian border, according to new evidence. Records obtained from the FLDS by prosecutors reveal that the girls, two of them aged 12 and one 13, were taken from British Columbia to sect settlements along the...

Accused FLDS Rapist Gets 30 Days

Allen Steed's testimony helped convict polygamist Warren Jeffs

(Newser) - A member of a breakaway Mormon polygamy sect who admitted having sex with his child bride will serve just 30 days in jail as part of a Utah plea deal. Allen Steed was initially charged with first-degree felony rape for bedding his 14-year-old first cousin. He could have faced life...

Polygamist Sect Leader Jeffs Battles Extradition

Warren Jeffs refuses to sign waiver sending him to Texas

(Newser) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs refused to sign a waiver allowing his extradition to Texas at a brief court hearing in Utah yesterday. Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, faces bigamy and sexual assault charges in Texas for his alleged involvement with underage girls...

Don't Worry: Texas Will Get Warren Jeffs

State has a much stronger track record convicting polygamists

(Newser) - The Utah Supreme Court stunned prosecutors when it tossed out the only successful conviction against Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamist FLDS church. The ruling will make it extremely difficult to retry Jeffs in Utah, where the laws already make the prosecution of child-marriage cases difficult, Time reports. But...

Ex-FLDS Member Wants Hard Time for Polygamists
Ex-FLDS Member Wants Hard Time for Polygamists
Interview
Jun 23, 2009 1:02 PM CDT

Ex-FLDS Member Wants Hard Time for Polygamists

Author: Texas hung Eldorado kids out to dry

(Newser) - Former FLDS member Flora Jessop is “hoping against hope” that the men charged with child abuse at the polygamist compound in Eldorado get harder time than those convicted  in similar crimes elsewhere, she told the Houston Chronicle. “Thirteen days, 45 days, nine months,” says Jessop, rattling off...

Polygamy Sect Struggling for Funds to Battle Charges

Church loses funds as it fights legal battles

(Newser) - Members of a cash-strapped Texas polygamous sect plan to argue this week that key evidence against them should be thrown out because it was illegally obtained, the Wall Street Journal reports. Authorities say the diaries, photos, and documents they seized prove that underage marriages took place on the FLDS ranch,...

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