Polygamist Sect Under Investigation

I think a lot of the women want out which is why they want to get them away and be able to speak with them privately. This way there are no repurcussions for them leaving, especially if they have to go back if they have no where to go ...

I have been keeping up with it and think they did it the right way by removing the children and sorting that out first, although I have little faith in CPS and the children ending up in foster care. It is a bit of a catch 22.

The women want their children back in the home.  They do not want to stay. 

I heard a woman who had escaped from one of these groups.  She said it they change the birth certificates yearly so the children can be identified.  Sorry, can't quote her exact words.  However, DNA testing was asked about.  I suppose they could at least find out who the mothers are through testing.  I doubt any of the men would come forward.

Something is really weird with these women.  Stepford (sp) wifes?

Shirley

i find the entire thing so sickening, i just don't understand why these women would get involved with this and why these men are not arrested and thrown in jail as soon as the police find out that they are polygamists. i feel so sorry for the innocent children and i think that once they find out who the mother is, each child should be given back to her, providing that the mother is fit and leaves the compound, what a mess!!

I lived in southern Utah for a number of years.  I've also been to the FLDS compound in Colorado City, located outside of St. George, where Jeffs was prosecuted recently. Their followers believe themselves to be the true Mormon church.  I shopped with them at Cosco, Walmart, etc.  St. George was the nearest town for them to buy their supplies.  They were easy to distinguish by their dress.  The children have been raised from birth in that culture.  The first time I went through their town was about 30 years ago.  At that time, the polygamists were self-supporting through farming and ranching.  Since that time, the "sister-wives" and their children are all on welfare and the communities are very poor.  They live just across the State line in a very remote region of Arizona.  I lived in So. Utah a few years ago.  A lot had changed.  The children and families of the polygamists are now shopping and getting what they need from St. George and they can now see how the rest of the world lives.

The young girls are now coming forward and talking about what is happening in their town.  But, getting to them and getting them out is very difficult.  They are tightly guarded.  Outsiders are noticed immediately.  They have their own police department, schools, etc., and in the case of Colorado City, everything was owned by Jeffs.

The same thing with the compound in Texas.  A young girl made a call for help.  Polygamy is illegal.  She was not legally married to the man.  They only have one legal wife.  She was underage.  The govt. stepped in and removed her. 

The other issue with polygamy in Colorado City and the other compounds in Utah and Texas is incest.  Because of the tight knit community, the families are all intertwined. 

Big Love on HBO doesn't show the true story of polygamy.  There are some polygamists in No. Utah who live somewhat like that show, but the vast majority are not.  The women are oppressed and abused.  One man controls all the land, money, and decides who gets to live where and who gets to marry which young girl.

I'm not Mormon BTW .. I just loved living in my little cabin in the mountains of southern Utah.

Edited to add - FLDS is Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, Mormons who practice polygamy. 

In the local news...for now the children will remain in custody of the state and the judge did order genetic testing to begin.

I think the mother's are in a precarious situation when it comes to staying or leaving and since they were in constant communication with the ranch they might have been told to leave. Also, since they are really not sure which mothers belong to which children it is hard to say why some stayed and others left. According to the local news the mother's gave evasive answers as to which children actually belonged to the. When it is all sorted out the mother's may be liable for those ubtruths as well. I believe the mothers will need deprogramming as well as the children and that is if they choose to do so. I also read that the mothers as well as the children are not as mature as outsiders of the same age range and this could affect their decisions to leave or stay.

It's hard to imagine any teenage or pre-teen, for that matter, wanting to marry a 50yo man ... and to top it off, these old men don't even look attractive to me .... I know for them, it's not about looks, it's about their religion and brainwashing but if they can get the girls out, hopefully this cultish behaviour can get behind them.

Unfortunately, it is never behind them (the children and teens).  When they leave or are removed from their community they are excommunicated and are never allowed contact with their families or extended families.  They are virtually alone without family and the only life they have every known in the world.  This is particularly traumatizing for the younger children.  The compound in Texas was established in 2004 by Jeffs.  He sent members from the two polygamist towns of Hilldale and Colorado City in So. Utah to start that compound.  Colorado City is actually in Arizona, but it is run completely by the FLDS.  And yes, the sister-wives and children are on the Ariz. welfare system.  Typically what happens is the men apply for credit cards to purchase big ticket items, such as trucks, washer/dryers, etc.  When their credit runs out, they have their sons or other men in the compound apply for more credit cards.  They are in extreme debt.  There are very few jobs in those two towns and all businesses are owned by Jeffs.  This is how they survive financially, bad credit and sister wives welfare.  The women born and raised in these two towns rarely have an education beyond 8th grade.  Can you imagine their fear of having to live in an open society and raise their children, most have between 4 to 11 children, with no family and no education.  I read today that 4 of the women were willing to claim their children and try to get jobs and leave the compound. 

I personally knew a woman polygamist in Utah with nine children.  She struggled to support them on her own, return to school and get a job.

The "Lost Boys" are removed from their communities because they want to take jobs outside the community, go to college, have only one wife, etc.  These young men have seen the outside world because they have to travel outside the communities now for basic needs.  They can now see television at Walmart and read the paper when they are in town.  They are thrown out on the streets in St. George with no family, no job, no home and no education.  They are shunned by the mainstream Mormon church. 

They will move their children from place to place to keep them hidden.  The men depend on the women to protect them.  Jeffs finally was prosecuted because one young woman was strong enough to suffer the loss of her family and all she knew to see it through to the end. 

It will be a very sad day for those 416 children when the DNA tests are analyzed and they come under great scrutiny.  Hopefully, their identities will be kept secret.  The inbreeding in those communities will have a profound emotional effect on those children if the DNA results and family trees are made public information.

I can only hope those horrible men, puppets of Warren Jeffs, end up in the same place he is now.  Prison.

Shirley,

Practically speaking, at least for the main community in Colorado City, AZ, it is so remote, just across the state line from Utah, that the AZ welfare and legal officials don't ever travel that far or investigate improprieties.  They "unofficially" close their eyes to it.  It's common knowledge in that area.  The young women's babies are delivered by midwives or if necessary at the hospital in St. George and it's paid for by medi-cal.  Again, common knowledge for all who live in that area. Most of the young wives are between the ages of 14-18 years-old.  

I agree that our welfare system shouldn't pay for this. People shouldn't have kids if they can't afford them-- it's probably unpopular to say that-- but kids deserve better than that.

The AZ and UT "compounds" are actually towns completely owned by Warren Jeffs. They're a few miles apart.  I've been in both of them.  The one in Texas was an enclosed compound, also owned by Jeffs, which surrounded their temple, but also had homes on the outside of the compound.  I knew of one family in Utah of 8 children, where 4 of the kids had a degenerative muscular disease and would die by the age of 12.

Amy, finances has nothing to do with whether or not the FLDS or LDS have children. The Mormons believe it is pre-ordained by God how many children they will have.  The FLDS religion teaches them to be fruitful and multiply. It's part of their faith and religion. It's also how they keep their communities growing.

The two towns in Utah are really poor.  The houses look like big ramshackle apartment buildings.  They start out as small houses.  When a man adds a wife, he adds on another section to the existing house.  Architecture and landscaping don't play a role in it.  You never see any men outside.  Only women and lots of young children. 

Believe me, they are very aware when you are driving down their dusty little streets.  They know every single second there is an outsider in their community. 

You're welcome!!!

I loved Utah so much. After my divorce in San Diego, I moved to a log cabin in the moutains about 30 miles north of St. George.  I explored all the time and was fearless (crazy is probably a better word for it)!

Yes, the children are innocents.

Bren

Paulette, I forget the name of what it's called too-- I learned the "proper name" for inbreeding during genetic testing. That's the reasons Jews are more likely to have one of the BC genes and also illnesses like tay sachs...