Manhunt for cult's prophet of polygamy who has 70 wives

by **emad** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:32 pm

Manhunt for cult's prophet of polygamy who has 70 wives From Chris Ayres in Los Angeles The Times A CULT leader in Arizona with a reputed 70 wives has become the subject of a nationwide manhunt in a move that could mark the end of America’s long-tolerated polygamist sects. The search for Warren Jeffs, the 49-year-old self-proclaim- ed prophet and president of the 10,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, marks the first time that Arizona has offered a reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of a fugitive. The reward has been set at $10,000 (£5,600). The FBI is also searching for Mr Jeffs on a federal warrant for “unlawful flight to avoid prosecution”. Mr Jeffs vanished several months ago from his palatial home in Colorado City, a secretive polygamist community with a population of about 5,000 that straddles the Utah-Arizona border. His church, which has had absolute control over the town, stands accused of forcing teenage girls to marry elders as rewards for loyalty, and of driving young men away from their homes and families to thin out the male population. Women are taught from infancy to be subservient or to suffer eternal damnation. For years the authorities turned a blind eye to such activities, but not any more. “We simply need to zero in on this guy,” declared Terry Goddard, Arizona’s attorney-general, who said that Mr Jeffs was wanted on charges of arranging for a 16-year-old girl to marry a much-older sect member who was already married. “Mr Jeffs’s influence over the members of the church has led to numerous child-abuse charges. His hold on the community continues to hurt its members, and it is time he answered to these charges in a court of law. He is not above the law.” A wanted poster featuring a five-year-old photograph of Mr Jeffs dressed in a black suit with white shirt and tie will be distributed in at least three states. Mr Jeffs has also been named as a defendant in a civil case brought by a nephew accusing him of sodomy, and in another brought by a former church member accusing him of covering up the behaviour of paedophiles. Eight other sect leaders wanted for sexual misconduct with underage brides have surrendered to the authorities. One was a former police officer with three wives. The end of polygamy in America was predicted three years ago when Mr Jeffs’s father, Rulon T. Jeffs, died aged 93. He left an estimated 20 widows, about 60 children and hundreds of grandchildren. His pallbearers included 33 of his sons. Those doomsday predictions are now coming true. “I figured we would have one of three scenarios: he [Mr Jeffs] would either be indicted, or someone from his own group would turn him in, or he would do a Jonestown kind of thing,” Ben Bistline, an Arizona historian, told the Arizona Republic newspaper, referring to the 1978 murder-suicide of 912 sect members in Jonestown, Guyana. Mr Jeffs’s is the most-prominent of the polygamist sects that broke away from America’s mainstream Mormon church when it outlawed multiple wives in the late 1800s as part of a federal deal that granted Utah statehood. The dissidents fled to the desert, where they founded communities such as Colorado City, which straddles the Utah-Arizona border to make it easier to escape raids by either state’s authorities. Even today, Colorado City is populated by older men and young girls with long braided hair and ankle-length dresses. Make-up and jewellery are banned, as are newspapers and television. Outsiders are not welcomed. The last time the sect was seriously challenged was in the 1950s, when police cars roared into the town at 4am, only to find that the residents had been tipped off. The present crackdown began in 2002, when a sect member called Tom Green, 37, was convicted of child rape after impregnating his 13-year-old “spiritual wife”. Mr Green, who lived with his 5 wives and 29 children in a trailer home camp in Utah, was the first polygamist prosecuted in the state in half a century. Since then, Utah and Arizona have moved aggressively against the sect, most recently by stripping Colorado City’s polygamist leaders of financial control over their community, which includes the town of Hildale, less than a mile away in Utah. A hearing is scheduled for July 21 to appoint new trustees to the estimated $150 million United Effort Plan Trust, created in 1940 with the utopian mission of collecting all community possessions and sharing them among the faithful.Church members also pledge their earnings to the trust. Although polygamists say that their communities encourage strong families, community spirit and volunteerism, the virtual dictatorships of the towns have failed to provide any economic infrastructure for residents; it is thought that about 78 per cent of them receive food stamps. The FBI said last week that Mr Jeffs had been sighted at a polygamist community in British Columbia. It is thought that he could be in Mexico or at a compound in Schleicher County, Texas, where polygamists are building a four- storey temple. Police in Texas say that they will not raid the property unless they have evidence that Mr Jeffs is there. THE MORMONS: A HISTORY 1831 Mormon Church founded by Joseph Smith with first church in Kirtland, Ohio. Expelled Mormons later move to Nauvoo, Illinois. Within this community, Mormons gain virtual autonomy with their own militia, court and laws 1847 Fleeing persecution, Mormons settle in Salt Lake City 1852 Mormon leader Brigham Young formally announces doctrine of polygamy 1857 Young defends Utah against anti-Mormon army of Colonel Albert S. Johnson in the Utah War 1890 Mormon Church outlaws polygamy, excommunicating Mormons who practise it. Polygamy has continued discreetly or through separatist sects 2003 Utah hosts first polygamy summit 2005 Mormon church leader Warren Jeffs indicted for sex crimes. An 18-year-old woman testifies about marriage to a man in his sixties with 17 wives, alleging she had witnessed rape at Mormon church There are about 9 million Mormons worldwide of whom about half live outside the US and Canada <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1694944,00.html">www.timesonline.co.uk/new...44,00.html</a>

Manhunt for cult's prophet of polygamy who has 70 wives

Manhunt for cult's prophet of polygamy who has 70 wives

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