Authorities brought charges against several men from the group. The 10,strong sect, which dominates the towns of Colorado City in Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, split from the mainstream Mormon church more than a century ago. US sect leader arraigned in Texas. Sect leader to face Texas charges. Retrial of US sect leader ordered. Jeffs soon found himself in legal hot water, however. The male followers he excommunicated in filed a civil suit against him later that year, and his nephew Brent Jeffs also brought him to court.
Brent claimed that his uncle had sexually assaulted him as a child. As criminal charges started to mount against Jeffs, he dropped out of sight. In , Arizona authorities indicted Jeffs on charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.
He then faced two counts of rape as an accomplice in in Utah for his role in arranging a marriage between a year-old girl and her year-old cousin.
Law enforcement didn't know exactly where Jeffs was during this time, but many assumed he was hiding out at various FLDS compounds to avoid prosecution. In , Jeffs was tried and convicted in Utah on charges of being an accessory to rape. That conviction was later overturned, but he faced more charges in Texas that came as a result of a raid on the YFZ Ranch in The raid yielded a treasure trove of evidence against Jeffs and several other members of the FLDS in connection to their marriages to underage girls.
Jeffs went on trial in for two of his "celestial marriages" — one with a year-old girl and another with a year-old girl who later had his child. Both of these so-called unions violated Texas law. Some of the most damning evidence came from Jeffs' own records. He had the habit of having his wives write down all of his activities. George to discuss if Jeffs will be ordered to give testimony.
Members of the FLDS still consider their leader and prophet to be Jeffs, even though he has been in jail in Utah or Texas continually since To his followers, he is a prophet who speaks to God who has been wrongly convicted. In recent years, the group has lost hundreds of members and control of the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, amid a major leadership void started by Jeffs imprisonment and exacerbated by the conviction of his brother, Lyle Jeffs, on food stamp fraud charges.
Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the mainstream church abandoned the practice in and now strictly prohibits it. Please enter email address to continue. Texas Ranger Nick Hanna testified the recording was found when Jeffs was arrested during a traffic stop in Nevada a few weeks later. Another copy was found at the Yearning for Zion ranch when it was raided in Jeffs' sect broke off from the mainstream Mormon Church 72 years ago.
His 10, followers across North America consider him a prophet who serves as God's spokesman on Earth. We'll notify you here with news about. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Comments 0. Top Stories. Sister: Hawaii girl was inside dog cage and not breathing 11 minutes ago. Pilot who flew with William Shatner to space killed in plane crash 4 hours ago.
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