Today, Warren Jeffs, 66, is serving a life sentence, having been convicted in 2011 of two felony counts of child sexual assault. He was sentenced to life in prison.Īt the time of his arrest, 24 of his 78 wives were under the age of 17. Both of his victims were a 15-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl he had married respectively. In 2011, Warren Jeffs was found guilty of sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault against a child, relating to the raid. ![]() ![]() In the end, the majority of children were returned to the YFZ ranch but numerous criminal charges were investigated. Upon release, he was extradited to Texas on several sexual assault charges relating to the arranged marriages of three teenage girls to his older male followers uncovered during a 2008 police raid on an FLDS temple at the YFZ Ranch which found a serious amount of physical and sexual abuse at the ranch.Īs a result of the raid, the Department of Family and Protective Services ordered 437 children to be removed from the ranch. However, his conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court in 2010 due to flawed jury instructions. In relation to the Utah charges, he was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice in September 2007 and received 10 years to life in prison. Whilst awaiting trial, Arizona charged Warren Jeffs with eight additional accounts including incest and sexual conduct with minors. Wall has since told her story in her 2008 book Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs. He was eventually arrested in August 2006 during a routine traffic stop in Las Vegas and agreed to return to Utah to face the two first-degree felony charges of accomplice rape for arranging a marriage between then 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her cousin, 19-year-old Allen Steed. In May 2006, Warren Jeffs was named on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List after fleeing Utah on felony charges of accomplice rape of a teenage girl between 14 and 18 years old. Members of the LFDS Church, led by Warren Jeffs. He also could end marriages and re-assign wives and their children to a new husband. He is legally married to Naomi Jessop.Īs President of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs was the only person with the authority to conduct marriages and held the role of assigning wives to their husbands. He also held the position of counselor to the church leader.Īfter his father's death, he married all but two of his wives-one, Rebecca Wall, escaped, while another refused to remarry. Warren Jeffs succeeded his father as both president and 'prophet' and continues to lead the FLDS today.īefore becoming president, he served as the principal of Alta Academy, an FLDS private school in Little Cottonwood Canyon. He was survived by approximately 20 wives and 60 children. Warren Jeffs' father, Rulon Jeffs-known to his followers as Uncle Rulon-was the president of the FLDS from 1986 until his death in 2002. 'The Staircase': Who Was Dennis Rowe and What Happened to Him?.'Under the Banner of Heaven': What's Happened Since Lafferty Arrests?.Amber Heard's Sister Speaks Post-Verdict: 'I Know What I Saw'.The FLDS believes strongly in the practice of polygamy and that men must practice the doctrine in order to attain the highest level of salvation from God in the afterlife. The FLDS is entirely separate from the main Mormon Church (LDS), which renounced polygamy over 100 years ago. Warren Steed Jeffs was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous denomination of the Mormon Church (LDS). What happened to Warren Jeffs and where is he now? Newsweek has everything you need to know. Jeffs was later arrested on charges of child sexual assault. More than 400 children were taken into custody. In 2008, a raid at the Yearning for Zion Ranch (YZR) in West Texas uncovered haunting evidence of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. The four-part documentary series takes an in-depth look at the secretive polygamous sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) and the rise of self-professed prophet Warren Jeffs. True-crime enthusiasts will not want to miss Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey on Netflix.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |