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| Sex and the City |
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People who have left the polygamous culture report: Allegations of rape, incest and sexual molestation are prevalent and these crimes are going unreported. Many older men desire young girls who become their "spiritual wives" because they can bear them more children over a longer period of time. Women are expected to bear children at least every two years. Young girls are often married to their close relatives. Often, the young men are considered to be the "competition" and become a liability to the older men, who want the young girls to become their "child brides." In June 2005, Warren Steed Jeffs was indicted in Mohave County, Arizona on Felony charges, which included incest, sexual conduct with a minor, and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor for his taking part in performing arranged marriages with little girls. A 16-year-old girl told Arizona authorities she was raped by a 28-year-old man, a person she was forced to marry in her polygamous group. The ceremonial marriage was arranged by Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Warren Jeffs was charged with conspiracy and sexual conduct with a minor for arranging this "church marriage" in 2002, and encouraging the 16-year-old bride "to go forth and multiply and replenish the earth" with her already once-married husband. In July 2005, eight men residing in the polygamous community of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah were charged in Mohave County, Arizona with having sex with underage girls whom they considered to be their polygamous "wives". These men ranged in age from 20 to 44 at the time of committing these sex offenses and the girls ranged in age from 15 to 17 at the time that the sexual conduct occurred. Mohave County Investigator Gary Engels said there are probably hundreds of other cases like these where authorities haven't found enough evidence to charge other men in the twin-border towns. The eight men charged were Dale Evans Barlow, 47; David Romaine Bateman, 48; Donald Robert Barlow, 48; Kelly Fischer, 38; Randolph Joseph Barlow, 32; Rodney Hans Holm, 38; Terry Darger Barlow, 23; and Vergel Bryce Jessop, 45. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith emphasized that these cases were not about prosecuting polygamy, but instead they are about holding male adults accountable for sexual offenses committed upon female minors who become their wives in church-sanctioned marriages not recognized by law. Articles about these and other sex abuses that are occurring "In the Name of God" are listed below in chronological order. |
| A Father Marries His Daughters: | |
| A Case of Incestuous Polygamy | |
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A case study by Wade C. Myers, M.D. and Steve J. Brasington, M.D. Journal of Forensic Science, Vol. 47, No. 5 www.astm.org Originally published September 2002 | |
| ABSTRACT: Polygamy is a risk factor for incest. This case report of incest and polygamy portrays the dynamics that dominated this family’s identity. The father indoctrinated and groomed his biological daughter and stepdaughter for sexual gratification in a cult-like atmosphere, and secretly married both of them. He justified his acts to the family members under the guise of religion, but he later denied allegations of polygamy and sexual contact with his daughters when confronted by the authorities. Ultimately, his parental rights were terminated in family court. The authors interviewed the primary victim and reviewed extensive evidence, including videotapes of the victims talking with detectives and also privately amongst each other. Videotape dialogue excerpts capture how these young girls individually coped with the sexual abuse and responded to becoming child wives in a polygamous family. Criminal charges ultimately were not pursued because the key witness refused to testify against her biological father. Read more | |
| The Bishop of Bountiful: The Blackmore Family | |
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The Fifth Estate CBC News Originally published January 15, 2003 | |
| Winston Blackmore, head of the family: The most powerful man in Bountiful, he has 26 wives and some 80 children. "I'm just a guy who wants to mind his own business and raise his family and I have a nice family by the way. And I do love my ladies by the way and I love my children." Jane Blackmore, as the first of his 26 wives Jane says she lived a privileged life and stood by Winston during their 17 years of marriage bearing him 7 of his reported 80 children. In an exclusive interview with the Fifth Estate, Jane Blackmore talks about growing up as a woman in Bountiful and reveals that she has decided to leave it all behind. "It was expected that I would be a very obedient girl and grow up and marry whom I was appointed to marry, and be a mother." Debbie Palmer, Winston Blackmore's stepmother: Raised in polygamy Debbie was only 15 when her father gave her away to a 57 year old man. She would become his 6th wife and stepmother to 32 other children. It was only after her third 'celestial marriage' that she found the courage to run from the community with her 8 children. After years of silent suffering she has emerged as a leading activist speaking out against the abuses she saw and experienced in Bountiful . "British Colombia was a perfect place, right there close to the border & You can get lost, you can do whatever you want to do really, and people aren't going to ask questions." Read more | |
| Polygamist faces 5 criminal counts of unlawful sex with minors | |
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By Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Originally published March 12, 2003 | |
| A Colorado City polygamist and former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints faces five criminal counts alleging he had unlawful sex with minors who became his wives. According to a complaint filed late last month in Mohave County Superior Court, Orson William Black Jr. had sexual relations with Roberta LeAnn Stubbs in 1998-99, when she was age 15 to 17. Black faces similar charges involving Beth M. Stubbs between 1998 and 2001. In December, Colorado City's deputy marshal, Rodney Holm, was charged with bigamy and unlawful sex with Ruth Stubbs, a sister from the same family. Arizona and Utah prosecutors have spent two years investigating polygamy and other criminal allegations in Colorado City and Hilldale, along the Arizona-Utah line. | |
| Fornicating for God | |
| As the case of a snatched Mormon girl from Salt Lake City unfolds, polygamists along the Arizona-Utah border face legal scrutiny | |
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By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published March 20, 2003 | |
| The leader of a renegade branch of the Mormon Church, now 47, had sexual relations with an underage girl who bore him a daughter in July 2000, records obtained by New Times indicate. Warren Jeffs, Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (FLDS), apparently lives with the child's mother, now 21, and at least 13 other wives in a fenced compound in Hildale, Utah. The town is adjacent to Colorado City, Arizona, along the border between the two states. Fundamentalist Mormons have openly practiced polygamy in this remote Arizona Strip region for more than 70 years. Sexual contact with 16- or 17-year-olds is illegal in Utah for people who are 10 years older, unless couples are legally married – which would be impossible in polygamous unions in all but first marriages, since a state law bans polygamy in Utah, and Arizona's constitution prohibits the practice. Read more | |
| Double Exposure | |
| Arizona's finally followed Utah's lead and launched serious action to stop abuses by polygamists | |
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By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published December 25, 2003 | |
| Fundamentalist Mormon prophet Warren Jeffs came close to getting arrested over the last year because the Utah Attorney General's Office believed he wanted disobedient teenager Vanessa Rohbock sacrificed to the Lord in a religious ritual called Blood Atonement. Based upon the teachings of Mormon Church patriarch Brigham Young, Jeffs professed that Vanessa's soul could be saved from eternal hell only if her blood were spilled, sources say. Young had preached that death was the only redemption for certain sins -- including adultery. "Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? That is what Jesus Christ meant," Young was quoted as saying in an 1857 sermon delivered in Salt Lake City and memorialized in the primary fundamentalist Mormon document Purity in the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, compiled by Jeffs' father and former fundamentalist Prophet Rulon Jeffs. Vanessa had committed the most vile of sins in the fundamentalist Mormon world: She had taken a boyfriend of her own choosing instead of marrying the man Warren Jeffs had chosen for her. Read more | |
| Yes, Polygamy Is Everybody's Business | |
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By Naomi Schaefer The Los Angeles Times Originally published February 9, 2004 | |
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COMMENTARY It's no 'private matter' when children are raped and intellectually starved in isolated settings. | |
| In January, a lawsuit was filed in federal court to overturn Utah's 113-year-old ban on polygamy. The action, which was prompted by the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Texas' anti-sodomy law last year, comes as no surprise. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia warned in his dissenting opinion in Lawrence vs. Texas that "if, as the court asserts, the promotion of majoritarian sexual morality is not even a legitimate state interest, none of the above-mentioned laws [against fornication, bigamy, adultery, adult incest, bestiality and obscenity] can survive rational-basis review." Utah polygamist Tom Green — who is appealing his convictions on bigamy on the ground that, like the men in Texas, what he does in his own home is no one else's business — could not have agreed more. But before we slide down the slippery slope of this kind of reasoning, we should consider an important distinction about polygamy — its treatment of children. The American West is dotted with polygamous communities, most of them "fundamentalist" Mormon sects, in rebellion against the church's renunciation of polygamy more than 100 years ago. Polygamy's negative effects on children in these communities are well documented and truly shocking. We know from firsthand accounts and court cases that child rape, incest, physical abuse, sexual abuse and child marriage are often realities. Read more | |
| Panel supports making child bigamy a felony | |
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By Elvia Díaz The Arizona Republic Originally published February 12, 2004 | |
| Arizona lawmakers are considering legislation aimed at putting an end to forced marriages of teenage girls in such polygamous enclaves as Colorado City. On Wednesday, the state Senate's Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would make child bigamy a felony. The proposed law prohibits an adult from cohabiting or marrying a minor while knowing that one or both are legally married. Parents forcing their children into marriages would also face felony penalties. The legislation, Senate Bill 1335, grew out of reports of teenage girls fleeing their homes and women claiming their children were being forced into marriages in Colorado City, a remote religious community near the Arizona-Utah line. Sen. Linda Binder, R-Lake Havasu, who voted for the legislation, evoked the case of two girls fleeing after being told they were to marry in a few hours to older men they didn't know. "This equates to being told that you're going to be raped in two hours," said Binder, explaining why tougher laws are required to protect girls. | |
| Polygamy called a right | |
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The Associated Press Originally published Tuesday, July 6, 2004 | |
| The attorney for a former police officer convicted of bigamy and illegal sex with an underage girl has filed a brief with the Utah Supreme Court arguing polygamy is a constitutional right. Rodney Holm, a former police officer in the polygamous community of Hildale, was found guilty in August and sentenced to serve a year in jail. In a 115-page brief, attorney Rodney Parker wrote that monogamy was the minority way of life worldwide and that critics of polygamy overstate its problems. "Current demographics, domestic relations law and religious diversity all accommodate plural marriage," Parker wrote. "Popular departure from traditional marriage has made our domestic laws on cohabitation and fornication anachronistic." Holm's conviction stemmed from his union with a third wife, Ruth Stubbs, who was 16 at the time of the plural marriage. | |
| Sex abuse allegations spur probe by RCMP | |
| B.C. commune is home to sect Polygamist group investigated earlier | |
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By Daniel Girard, Western Canada Bureau The Toronto Star Originally published July 24, 2004 | |
| VANCOUVER—A new RCMP team is being established to investigate allegations of child abuse at the polygamist commune of Bountiful in the British Columbia Interior. "The groundswell of public concern has reached a point where government and the police, in my view, have an obligation to act," Attorney-General Geoff Plant said in an interview yesterday. "It's a priority to investigate the many allegations being made." Bountiful, a community of about 1,000 people near Cranbrook in southeastern B.C., has long been the subject of allegations of sexual abuse and of teenaged girls being made concubines or "celestial wives" of men who are much older and already have several other wives. Although polygamy is illegal in Canada, the B.C. government has been reluctant to act. It has obtained two legal opinions that said the group, a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, could likely successfully argue the law violates a person's right to freedom of religion. But Plant said one of the keys in the government moving now is a letter he got in May — the first-hand account of a woman who said she was abused at Bountiful. That let him "engage some of my colleagues in more active discussions of what we ought to do here." The B.C. education ministry, which gives about $500,000 a year in grants to the schools there, is also concerned about allegations the schools teach racism and white supremacy. "What truly offends the majority of people who hear about these allegations goes beyond the question of multiple marriages," he said. "It includes suggestions there are children who are being sexually exploited, girls being transported across the border, and so on. Read more | |
| Suit accuses polygamist of sex abuse, cover-up | |
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By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published July 30, 2004 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY - The head of the nation's largest polygamous community, headquartered along the Arizona-Utah line, was accused Thursday in a lawsuit of repeatedly sodomizing his nephew and for decades covering up wide-scale sexual abuse of children by fellow members of his sect. The allegations were the most serious and graphic to be brought against Warren Jeffs, 48, the embattled self-proclaimed prophet of a breakaway religious sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs and his top lieutenants in the FLDS have been the focus of a series of criminal investigations under way for years by the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona. So far, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone in the church hierarchy, but Thursday's civil suit opened a new track in the investigations. Rodney Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney who represents the FLDS, did not return phone calls to comment on the suit, which was filed shortly before Utah's 3rd Judicial District Court closed for the day. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he received a copy of the suit Thursday and was considering expanding his current investigation to include the specific allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up. "We are very interested in the information in the complaint and are looking into the allegations to determine whether to open a criminal investigation," Shurtleff said. "We already have a criminal task force in place that is looking into all kinds of allegations of criminal conduct by certain members of the FLDS." Read more | |
| Polygamists accused of rape | |
| Leader, elders of sect call lawsuit a vengeful attack on church | |
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By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Friday, July 30, 2004 | |
| The leader and two elders of a religious polygamist sect building a compound in West Texas face accusations of repeatedly raping a young boy in the 1980s, telling him they were "doing God's work" in teaching him to become a man and it was God's will that he keep quiet about it. Attorneys for church leader Warren Jeffs and his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based on the Utah-Arizona border, say the lawsuit is a vengeful attack by enemies of Mr. Jeffs and the church. The church and Mr. Jeffs "deny in the strongest possible terms the allegations" by Mr. Jeffs' nephew, Salt Lake City attorney Rodney Parker said. "The church and President Jeffs believe that the filing of this action is part of a continuing effort by enemies of the church to defame it and its institutions. "President Jeffs is confident that ultimately these allegations will be shown to be total fabrications." Read more | |
| Human smuggling denied | |
| Critic charges girls trafficked as breeding stock | |
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By Mike D'Amour Calgary Sun Originally published August 2, 2004 | |
| CRESTON, B.C. -- The polygamous community of Bountiful has existed in near anonymity for decades. But a looming law enforcement investigation has thrust the community into the public spotlight. Forced marriages between young girls and much older men is one of the complaints investigators will explore. The men of Bountiful make no bones about the fact they're in polygamous relationships and at least one admits having nearly 20 wives. But with nearly everyone in the religious community a descendant of half a dozen men, where do the new brides come from? Reporter Mike D'Amour and photographer Carlos Amat were on scene to find some answers in this final installment of a Sun investigation. There's been a rumour circulating around these parts for some time that the men of Bountiful are smuggling their wives-to-be in from the U.S. branch of their religion. "I've heard the very same thing," said Joe Snopek, the mayor of Creston, a town of about 5,000 that lies just north of Bountiful. "Because Bountiful bought adjoining land in Canada and the U.S., it's rumoured the girls would be brought into Canada late at night, but that's slowed down because of tightened border security since (the 911 terrorist attacks)." Read more | |
| Canadian police probe FLDS reports | |
| Abuse allegations: Media articles tell of trafficking women and girls from southern Utah areas | |
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By Mark Thiessen The Associated Press Originally published August 6, 2004 | |
| Authorities are investigating the alleged abuse of women and children in a Canadian outpost of a southern Utah-based polygamous community. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Bountiful, British Columbia, which believes in plural marriage as a tenet of the faith, spokeswoman Cpl. Catherine Galliford said Thursday. The Bountiful congregation is affiliated with the FLDS church that has its base in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where an estimated 10,000 followers live. "Finally," said Rowenna Erickson, a co-founder of the Salt Lake City-based Tapestry Against Polygamy. "They've been trafficking girls for a long time." Read more | |
| FLDS PROPHET WARREN JEFFS IMPLICATED IN ANOTHER MISSING PERSON CASE, AND ANOTHER ALLEGED CASE OF SEXUAL CONTACT WITH A MINOR | |
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Jon Krakauer Press Release November 12, 2004 | |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Thursday evening a missing-person report was filed for 17-year-old Janetta Jessop, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) based in the adjoining border communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. The report was submitted to the Washington County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office by Janetta’s 26-year old sister, Suzanne Jessop Johnson. Notable for being the largest polygamous sect in North America, the FLDS Church is led by an exceedingly secretive 49-year-old man named Warren Steed Jeffs. A self-proclaimed prophet, Jeffs claims to be God’s mouthpiece on earth and is believed to be married to more than 70 women, several of whom were wed to him when they were teenagers. He demands absolute, unquestioning obedience from his estimated 10,000 followers, whom he forbids to have any unnecessary contact with outsiders. Jeffs has repeatedly prophesied that the Lord will soon unleash a scourge of "pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake" upon the earth, destroying all of humankind except the most zealous of his true believers. Suzanne Johnson says she discovered that her sister Janetta Jessop had abruptly vanished in August 2003 when Suzanne went over to the family home in Colorado City to deliver a plate of cookies immediately after Janetta’s 16th birthday. Read more | |
| Colorado City investigation ongoing | |
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e-Press Tri-States News Network A Production of Murphy Broadcasting, Inc. Originally published Friday November 19, 2004 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – Although missing Colorado City resident Janetta Jessop is at home, the Mohave County Attorney’s office intends to continue the investigation. According to Gary Engels, special investigator for the attorney’s office, when interviewed Tuesday Jessop was unwilling to comment on her whereabouts for the past year. He also said the parents answers are one reason he’s staying involved. "I will be stopping by there periodically to check on her to make sure she’s still there and still ok," said Engels. According to Jessop’s sister Suzanne Johnson, Jessop as well as two other sisters are believed to have been married off to Warren Jeffs, leader of the polygamist religious sect. | |
| Utah legislators presented book - "God's Brothel" | |
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The Associated Press KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally broadcast January 18, 2005 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY Utah legislators were provided with some extra reading today -- a book about pologamy called "God's Brothel." Utah state Senator Ed Allen handed out a copy of the book to all 104 Utah lawmakers. Allen says polygamy is no laughing matter and the book contains stories of child rape, incest, orgies and violence. Thousands in Utah quietly practice polygamy, although it has been illegal for more than a century and authorities are renewing a crackdown. "God's Brothel" was written by Andrea Moore-Emmett, president of the Utah chapter of the National Organization for Women. | |
| All for one | |
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By Dan Rosenburg Le Soleil de Châteauguay - Quebec, Canada Originally published January 29, 2005 | |
| A few years ago, a friend of mine pointed out a house a stone's throw from Chateauguay City Hall. She confided to me that the inhabitants were practising polygamy. For the uninitiated, polygamy is when the family patriarch has two wives or more. They and their kids (all from the same father) live under one roof, supposedly as one big, happy family. Although polygamy is against the law, the practitioners are apparently immune from prosecution, under the guise that this behaviour is part of their religion. When I took my friend grocery shopping a few days later, she nudged me, indicated two women standing in line at the cash, and whispered into my ear, "Those are two of the sister wives." I gave the two women the once-over, noting that they both wore long dresses that hung down to their toes. They looked very pale. They kept to themselves, communicated in hushed tones and spoke to no one. This image remains in my head to this day. And so it was that I stumbled upon a virtually unannounced TV documentary called "Inside Polygamy" that aired on the A & E network at noon last Saturday. I began watching it with an open mind, but the program was shocking. Last Tuesday on CJAD radio, Kim Fraser interviewed a former "sister wife" who had escaped a polygamous relationship after 15 years and now denounces it. She gave listeners an earful. Previously, it was thought that polygamy was largely confined to Utah and Arizona; some pockets of B.C., and foreign countries. But the practice has apparently spread. On CJAD, the reformed "sister wife" explained that polygamy is far from being the utopia its practitioners pretend it to be. Read more | |
| American polygamist living across the border | |
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By Angela Kocherga San Antonio Express-News Originally published February 22, 2005 | |
| They're known for taking multiple brides — sometimes even wives as young as 13 years old. Now, some American polygamists are crossing the border to a tiny Mexican town to escape the law. It could be a classroom anywhere in America until you hear the students recite the school credo in Spanish — after all, this is Mexico. The children share a common heritage and history. Their American ancestors crossed the border to preserve a way of live. "My dad had seven wives at one time," said Clarence Le Baron, former mayor of Le Baron, Mexico. His grandfather was a Mormon bishop and also a polygamist, who left the United States during a crackdown on polygamy in 1890. "They actually came down and settled 13 Mormon colonies, kind of similar to the 13 U.S. colonies," Le Baron said. This colony, in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, bears Clarence's grandfather's name: Le Baron. "He said the nice thing about Mexico is if you don't have enough freedom, you can always buy a little more," Le Baron said. Read more | |
| Shrouded in secrecy | |
| Former members of Eldorado sect speak of abusive, closed society, fanaticism | |
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 27, 2005 | |
| When Jack Cooke took his teenage daughter Rebecca to the edge of the Grand Canyon, the reason was much more sinister than sightseeing. He took her there to deliver an ultimatum. "Submit to me," he told her, "or you’ll go over the edge." Then he raped her. Rebecca Cooke was not alone in her family — she was one of at least 13 daughters molested or raped by their father, a man with four wives and 57 children, said Laurene Jessop, his seventh-oldest daughter. Jessop was also raped, although her help sending him to prison spared her from the worst of the abuse. "I think (Rebecca) got the worst of it, being the oldest girl," Jessop said, recounting the incident. "Thank goodness I wasn’t one of the oldest ones." The abuse occurred more than 20 years ago in Colorado City, Ariz., one-half of a twin-city community that also includes Hildale, Utah, and serves as the home base of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon offshoot to which Cooke and his family belonged that still practices polygamy. Read more | |
| Study group to look at human trafficking, polygamy | |
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The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast April 1, 2005 | |
| BOISE -- Idaho lawmakers will appoint a committee to study human trafficking in their state. Officials in northern Idaho are concerned by reports of a polygamous religious group moving from Canada to Boundary County. They're hearing rumors that the group is trading child brides with another polygamous group in Utah. And some southern Idaho lawmakers have heard rumors about men bringing home wives from other countries and then exploiting them for prostitution or slave labor. The committee will study the issue over the summer and may hold hearings on the matter. Next winter, that information may be used to develop new legislation. | |
| Criminal charges filed against polygamist leader | |
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By Mike Watkiss KTVK NewsChannel 3 - Phoenix Originally broadcast June 10, 2005 | |
| 3TV has learned for the first time ever criminal charges have been filed against polygamist prophet and leader Warren Jeffs. The charges were filed in Mohave County and stem from allegations that Jeffs gave a 16-year-old girl as a plural wife to one of his male followers who is at least 10 years older than the girl. Mohave County Attorney Matthew J. Smith confirmed the indictment of Jeffs, saying, "Ultimately, we want to stop them from marrying off underage girls." The charges include one count of sexual conduct with a minor and the other is conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Jeffs has become the center of increasing controversy in recent years and is already the target of a couple of high-profile civil lawsuits. One of the lawsuits was filed by a Jeffs’ nephew who claims as a child, he was sodomized by his uncle and other family members. Another civil lawsuit has been filed on behalf of polygamy's so-called Lost Boys, young men allegedly driven out of Colorado City by Jeffs and his followers to reduce competition for young brides. But today's criminal charges are the first such action taken against Jeffs as the states of Arizona and Utah continue a concerted and ongoing crackdown aimed at alleged polygamous crimes. Read more | |
| Warren Jeffs Indicted in Arizona | |
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Alex Cabrero Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 10, 2005 | |
| The Mohave County Attorney in Arizona has a message for polygamists who live along his state's border with Utah. Matthew Smith, Mohave County, Arizona Attorney: "Twenty-eight year olds cannot have sexual intercourse with 16-year olds in the state of Arizona." He's filed criminal charges against Polygamous leader Warren Jeffs for arranging a plural marriage with a 16-year old girl. A lot of people have been wondering if this day would ever come. Now that it has, it's just a matter of finding Warren Jeffs. Arizona wants him, so does Utah. All this started because a victim in Jeff's polygamous group was willing to come forward to Arizona authorities. That's what Utah needs in order to go forward with charges of its own, but as we know, charging Jeffs is one thing, finding him is something else. Mark Shurtleff, Attorney General of Utah: "It's gonna be difficult because he's elusive. He hides. He has a lot of loyal people around him to keep him safe." Any state attorney general can probably tell you one case that's always bugged them. For Utah's Mark Shurtleff that one case just might be Warren Jeffs. Mark Shurtleff: "I want to charge him, but in law enforcement, we just don't charge people because we want to. We have to have a case we think we can prove, and that requires a witness." And a witness is exactly what came forward to authorities in Arizona. A 16-year old girl in Colorado City told police Jeffs arranged a marriage between her and a 28-year old man. Read more | |
| Investigator says alleged victim is being protected | |
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The Associated Press KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally broadcast June 10, 2005 | |
| PHOENIX A grand jury in Mohave County has handed up two criminal charges against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs. It accused the reclusive religious profit of allegedly arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man. Mohave County investigator Gary Engels says the girl is no longer a member of the church, but wouldn't say where she is now. However, Engels says she is being protected. Engels says there are probably hundreds of other cases like this one that authorities haven't found enough evidence of in the twin-border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Jeffs hasn't been seen publicly in more than a year, and is thought by some to be in Texas on a new church ranch. | |
| Warrant issued for FLDS leader | |
| Warren Jeffs indicted on two felony charges | |
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By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published Saturday, June 11, 2005 | |
| An arrest warrant has been issued for Warren Steed Jeffs, prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who was indicted on two separate felony charges in Mohave County, Ariz. on Thursday. Mohave County Attorney Matthew Smith said Jeffs was indicted on two Class Six felony charges, which include sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Smith said the charges are based on allegations that Jeffs set up a marriage between a 28-year old man and a 16-year old girl on or between March 28, 2002 and June 30, 2002 in the vicinity of Colorado City. Smith said the 28-year old man, who's name was withheld, has been indicted as well on three felony counts of sexual assault and sexual conduct with a minor. The man had not been served with a warrant as of Friday afternoon. The Mohave County Attorney's Office has also obtained warrants against two other men accused of taking part in arranged marriages with minors. The minor victim was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury on the allegations, said Gary Engels, Mohave County Attorney's Office investigator. While some believe Jeffs is at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said there is no evidence or information that Jeffs is at the ranch. Doran also didn't know about the arrest warrant until Friday afternoon. "My first tip was from the local newspaper," Doran said. Read more | |
| Former Polygamist Member Reacts to Charges Against Jeffs | |
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Nishi Gupta reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 11, 2005 | |
| Terry Goddard, Attorney General of Arizona: "This is the first time in my knowledge that we've had a witness willing to step forward and say this is what happened to me, I was sexually abused." Charges have been filed in Arizona against a polygamist leader, and Utah officials seem ready to help. A sixteen-year-old girl told Arizona authorities she was raped by a 28 year- old-man a person she was forced to marry in her polygamous group. The marriage was arranged by Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. State authorities have been keeping an eye on Warren Jeffs and the FLDS church for some time now. So when this girl came forward, Jeffs was charged with conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. When Rowenna Erickson heard the news, she was thrilled. It was something she'd been waiting to see for 13 years. Rowenna Erickson, Tapestry Against Polygamy: "Polygamy is one hundred percent sexual abuse. Not only are our children molested or raped, daily, but it's sexual abuse to a wife to have her husband having sex with all of these women. And of course they use religion as a guise to justify why they're doing it." Erickson can relate to the girl: She was a member of the Kingston polygamous group for 54 years. Read more | |
| Official: More Colo. City cases to be filed | |
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By Caleb Soptelean Today's News-Herald - Havasu City Originally published June 15, 2005 | |
| Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said he expects another 10 to 15 cases involving underage marriage in Colorado City to be filed in the near future. The news comes on the heels of Superior Court Judge Steven Conn issuing an arrest warrant for Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' prophet Warren Jeffs last week. The 10 to 15 cases should be brought before a grand jury for possible indictment some time in the next couple months, Smith said. Smith said county investigator Gary Engels and the sheriff's office have been unable to serve four arrest warrants and six court subpoenas in the polygamist enclave that straddles the Utah/Arizona border. Those who are wanted for arrest or subpoena are "running, hiding, lying or moving" in order to avoid Engels, Smith said. Read more | |
| More Colorado City criminal cases | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Wednesday June 15, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. – Mohave County attorney Matt Smith promises additional criminal cases involving ceremonial marriages that lead underage minors into sexual conduct with male adults in the polygamy-practicing community of Colorado City in northern Arizona. Smith said Tuesday that he's seeking charges against at least another dozen men in Colorado City. Smith's office obtained an indictment last week charging Warren Jeffs, the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), the predominant church in Colorado City and the neighboring community of Hilldale in Utah. Jeffs, 49, and an unidentified Colorado City man, 28, were charged with sex offenses in a five-count indictment handed up June 9 by a Mohave County Grand Jury. County Attorney Matt Smith said Jeffs was charged with conspiracy and sexual conduct with a minor for arranging a church marriage in 2002, and encouraging the 16 year-old bride "to go forth and multiply and replenish the earth" with her already once-married husband. Smith said the husband is charged for sexual relations with the young woman who is now 19 years old. Pleading for an additional staff attorney during a budget workshop Tuesday, Smith informed county supervisors that he's gearing up for additional prosecution. "We have at least 10 to 15 cases involving underage marriages that are going to the Grand Jury within the next four to six weeks," Smith said. Read more | |
| Practice is common | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published June 27, 2005 | |
| LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – There is abuse in Colorado City. Concerned about recent comments by a local, high profile, community leader downplaying the child marriages in Colorado City as being isolated incidences, a group of abuse experts speaks up. Donna Imhausen is the president of the Lake Havasu City Abuse Prevention program that runs the city’s shelter, and one of five people who as a group wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper. "Their whole life is this, they have no choice, they know nothing, they’re not allowed anything, so to make a comment about this ‘Well this just happens once in a while’, I mean that’s total nonsense about what’s going on out there," said Imhausen. Imhausen and the others want people to understand that these incidents are not rare, and indeed, child marriage is a way of life in highly isolated communities like Colorado City. | |
| Several expected to surrender today in polygamy case | |
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The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published July 11, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN- Seven or eight residents of the polygamous community of Colorado City - all sought on alleged sex offenses involving underage polygamous wives - are expected to surrender today in Kingman. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith says under an agreement with the men's attorney, all were to be booked and then released on 25-hundred-dollars bond each. Another Colorado City resident who was arrested Friday was in court in Kingman today. Forty-eight-year-old David Bateman pleaded innocent to charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. | |
| 7 Polygamist Men Surrender, Accused of Sex Crimes | |
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast July 11, 2005 | |
| Seven men surrendered at an Arizona jail today in what appears to be the biggest crackdown on a polygamist community in more than a half-century. All are followers of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. One man was arrested Friday when a squad of deputies descended on Colorado City, Arizona. Seven others voluntarily gave themselves up today. A ninth man is unaccounted for. All are charged with felony sex crimes for marrying, or arranging marriages, with underage girls. The polygamist town sits on the border of Utah and Arizona. Utah authorities landed the first big punch last year with the successful prosecution of polygamist policeman Rodney Holm. Now Arizona has fired off a volley of felony charges. Eight men, including Rodney Holm, have been booked into jail in Kingman Arizona. Utah's Attorney General applauded the Arizona arrests. Mark Shurtleff, Utah Attorney General: "They all relate to unlawful sexual activity with children, and conspiracy in arranging those kind of marriage relationships." Read more | |
| More Colorado City men indicted, 9 in custody, on polygamy crimes | |
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By 3TV Fox 11 - Tucson Originally broadcast July 11, 2005 | |
| 3TV has learned that as many as seven more Colorado City men have been indicted on crimes associated with the practice of polygamy. One of those men was arrested and eight others turned themselves in to Mohave County authorities. Two of the men were wanted on previous indictments. David R. Bateman was arrested. 3TV reporter Mike Watkiss learned that Kelly Fischer, Dale Barlow, Rodney Holm, Randolph Barlow, Vergel Jessop, Terry Barlow, Donald Robert Barlow and Harvey J. Dockstader all turned themselves in. In 2003, Holm, a former Colorado City police officer, was convicted by a Utah jury of sex crimes and bigamy for taking a 16-year-old girl as his third wife. Now it appears Arizona officials are going to charge Holm with similar crimes for having sex with the same underage girl here in Arizona. Those who surrendered were booked into the Mohave County Jail and posted bond. See the booking photos | |
| Eight arrested on sex charges | |
| All from polygamous Arizona community | |
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By Dave Hawkins Las Vegas Review Journal Originally published July 12, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Eight men from the polygamous community of Colorado City, Ariz., who are charged with sex offenses involving their underage ceremonial wives left the Mohave County Jail in a convoy of three SUVs and a pickup Monday. One of the defendants, David Romaine Bateman, 48, was arrested at his home Friday, and the others surrendered Monday morning. County Attorney Matt Smith said Flagstaff attorney Bruce Griffin called him Monday morning and said a number of indicted defendants would turn themselves in at the jail. The attorneys stipulated that each of the men would be released on bond after they were fingerprinted and photographed. Judge James Chavez scheduled an Aug. 5 case management hearing for Batemen after taking his not guilty plea. Read more | |
| Eight arrests in US polygamy sect | |
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BBC News news.bbc.co.uk Originally published Tuesday, 12 July, 2005 | |
| Eight members of a polygamous community have been indicted in connection with cases of alleged sexual misconduct with minors, US prosecutors say. The charges follow an investigation into communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) in Arizona and Utah. One of the men was arrested on Friday, while the others turned themselves in on Monday, AP news agency reported. Police are still seeking the church's leader, who was charged last month. Warren Jeffs, who is reputed to have 70 wives, was charged by authorities in Arizona with conspiring to commit sexual misconduct with a minor. Read more | |
| Bounty placed on fundamentalist | |
| $10,000 reward in hunt for child-abuse suspect | |
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By Geoffrey Fattah Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, July 14, 2005 | |
| The elusive leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints now has a bounty on his head. Utah and Arizona officials announced Wednesday a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Warren Jeffs on two counts of felony child sex abuse for allegedly arranging, and performing, the marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a man who was already married. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff publicly challenged Jeffs to turn himself in peacefully and face justice. "I just think he thinks he's above the law — he's a coward," Shurtleff said. He then addressed Jeffs directly, "If you think it's constitutional what you're doing, hey, come in and face justice." Read more | |
| Smith pursues abuse charges | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published July 13, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. – Eight men from the polygamous northern Arizona community of Colorado City, who are charged with sex offenses involving their underage ceremonial child brides, left the Mohave County Jail in Kingman Monday afternoon in a convoy of three SUV's and a pickup truck. One of the defendants David Romaine Bateman, 48, was arrested at his home Friday and the others evaded Mohave County Sheriff's deputies who were looking for them over the weekend. Their Monday morning surrender came as a surprise to both Sheriff Tom Sheahan and County Attorney Matt Smith. Smith said Flagstaff attorney Bruce Griffin called him Monday morning, indicating a number of indicted defendants would turn themselves in at the jail. The attorneys stipulated that each of the men would be released on bond after they were fingerprinted and photographed. Griffin said he accepted when unidentified attorneys asked him if he would handle Monday's affairs at the jail as well as Bateman's arraignment. Read more | |
| Equivalent of statutory rape | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published July 14, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – Clarification and correction today from the Mohave County Attorney, Matt Smith, on the indictments handed down by a grand jury against eight Colorado City men. The charges, with exception of the one felony Sexual Assault, are not abuse related, and there are no complaining witnesses in the case, except for one who was subpoenaed, and forced to testify. The indictments were obtained on evidence found in public birth records; proving underage girls were involved in sexual activity with the men. "If you’re already married, then you cannot marry a second person who is under the age of eighteen and have sex with them, because its just having sex with somebody under eighteen, which is illegal," said Smith. Marriage in Arizona is permissible at the age of sixteen, with parental consent, however polygamist marriages, such as the ones in Colorado City cases, are not recognized as legal in any U.S. state. This cleared the way for the charges of Sexual Conduct with a Minor, commonly known elsewhere in the U.S. as statutory rape. | |
| 'Principle' is bedrock law | |
| Men take multiple wives; women are taught to comply | |
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By Deborah Frazier And Gwen Florio Rocky Mountain News Originally published July 16, 2005 | |
| Debbie Palmer was raised to follow "The Principle," the polygamist sect's law that requires men to have at least three wives to reach heaven's highest level. At 15, Palmer was assigned to marry Ray Blackmore, 55, in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Canadian community. While some women have escaped "plural marriages" and describe cold, abusive relationships, others see a benefit of having support from "sister wives" and seek additional mates. Palmer's story speaks to the darker side of polygamy. She said women are forced to have sex during the fertility period of their menstrual cycle. She said Blackmore had five other wives and his attentions focused on the woman most likely to conceive. "Life is about sex," Palmer said. Read more | |
| Smith says sex offenses, not civil rights | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – There are many unanswered questions regarding defense matters for ten Colorado City men indicted for alleged sex offenses by a Mohave County grand jury. Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies arrested one of the men and seven others turned themselves in for processing at the county jail on July 11. Flagstaff attorney Bruce Griffin arranged their appearances. Griffin said other unidentified attorneys who asked him to handle the July 11 surrender scenario in Kingman had contacted him. Since then, a dozen phone calls to Griffin's Flagstaff office have produced no response. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said he doesn't know if Griffin will handle each of the cases, or if other attorneys will become involved. Smith said he would not be surprised if a team of lawyers was established. Smith has emphasized his prosecution is not an attack on the Colorado City based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), nor its endorsement of the practice of polygamy. He said the prosecution is focused on violation of the laws prohibiting adults from having sexual intercourse with minors who are not legally married to them. Nonetheless, Smith anticipates defense claims of civil rights violations by the prosecution. Read more | |
| Colorado City seven fail to appear for court | |
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By Donna Newman Kingman Daily Miner Originally published July 27, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN The seven Colorado City men who turned themselves in to the Mohave County Sheriff's office on arrest warrants on July 11 were supposed to be arraigned in Mohave County Superior Court Monday. None of them showed up, and their attorney was a no-show, too. Judges Steven F. Conn, Richard Weiss and Robert R. Moon had the men scheduled for arraignments, but each judge said he had received letters from the defendants and their lawyer, Bruce Griffen of Flagstaff, waiving personal appearances at the court proceedings. All three judges continued the arraignments. Each stated that defendants are required to appear in person for initial appearances before a judge before the law allows them to waive personal appearances in court. None of the judges could find any records in the defendants' files to indicate they had made the required personal appearances. Conn said he didn't even have addresses for the defendants assigned to his courtroom. Arraignments were continued in Conn's courtroom to 8:30 a.m. Aug. 1 for Kelly Fischer, Donald Barlow and Vergel Jessop; in Weiss's courtroom at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 15 for Dale Evans Barlow; and in Moon's courtroom at 10 a.m. Aug. 26 for Randolph J. Barlow, Rodney H. Holm and Terry D. Barlow. | |
| Indicted sex offenders must appear | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Wednesday July 27, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. – A Flagstaff defense attorney representing eight Colorado City men, charged with sex offenses involving their ceremonial alleged child brides, was thwarted in his attempt to handle their arraignments by mail. The three Mohave County Superior Court Judges handling the various cases continued the arraignments that were scheduled Monday. Lawyer Bruce Griffen mailed notices to Kingman attempting to enter not guilty pleas while waiving the defendant's rights to be present for the legal proceeding. Arraignments by mail are conducted occasionally on the local level, but Superior Court Judge Steve Conn said Rule 14 prohibits the procedure in this instance. Conn's ruling hinged on the fact that the three defendants assigned to his court had not yet made initial appearances before a judge. He said arraignments by mail are not allowed without the defendants having had an initial appearance. "They cannot do an arraignment by mail," Judge Conn said. "The defendants have to appear in person to be arraigned." Read more | |
| Polygamists arraigned on sex charges | |
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The Associated Press KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally broadcast August 1, 2005 | |
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KINGMAN, Ariz. Three Arizona polygamists accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls they had taken as wives pleaded innocent during their arraignments today in Kingman. Donald Barlow, Vergel Jessop and Kelly Fischer each face charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Judge Steve Conn informed the defendants - all residents of the polygamist community of Colorado City - that both charges can bring punishment ranging up to two years in prison. The trio's next court appearances have been set for August 22.
(Thanks to Dave Hawkins at KGMN) | |
| 1,200 gather for reunion of polygamist's family | |
| Patriarch Benjamin Franklin Johnson had 7 wives, has 44,000 descendants | |
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By Jaimee Rose The Arizona Republic Originally published August 3, 2005 | |
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Editor's note: The reporter is married to one of Benjamin Franklin Johnson's 44,000 descendants. Her husband, three generations removed, comes through the second wife’s second child. He skipped the reunion. SALT LAKE CITY - All of the cousins are color-coded. The big Benjamin Franklin Johnson family reunion starts with a registration desk, name tags and a pile of bright Avery dot stickers from OfficeMax - seven colors for seven wives. You get a green dot on your name tag if you are descended from his first wife, Melissa ("the legitimate one," her family jokes). If you're from Sarah Melissa, the fifth wife, there's a golden-yellow dot, which is causing a slight fuss as it's barely different from the buttercup-yellow dot for the third wife, Flora Clarinda. Mustn't be mistaken for her kin since she divorced him back in 1848, and they don't talk about that. They ran out of red dots for the fourth wife's family. The woman had eight children, after all. All day, second- and third- and four-times-removed cousins meet for the first time, coo over the babies, apologize, maybe, for cutting each other off on the freeway earlier (back before they knew they were cousins) and ask, "Now, which wife are you from?" Read more | |
| Colorado City men plead not guilty | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Sunday, August 7, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. - Three polygamists charged with alleged sex offenses involving their ceremonial underage wives in the northern Arizona town of Colorado City pleaded not guilty during their arraignments last week. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steve Conn scheduled August 22 case management hearings for Donald Barlow, 58, Vergel Jessop, 45 and Kelly Fischer, 38. Each defendant is charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Judge Conn explained that each offense is punishable by up to two years in prison. Six other Colorado City men face similar charges, including Warren Jeffs, the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Warrants for Jeffs arrest have issued and he is the subject of an FBI manhunt. | |
| Two Colorado City men arraigned on felony charges | |
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By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, August 22, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN - The remaining two of eight Colorado City men pleaded innocent Monday in Superior Court to sexual charges involving minors. Rodney Hans Holm, 38, a former Colorado City police officer, pleaded innocent to three counts of sexual conduct with a minor that took place between Dec. 1, 1998 and March 31, 1999. Holm could get up to two years in prison or probation if tried and convicted of each charge. Terry Darger Barlow, 23, also pleaded innocent Monday to one count of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The alleged crimes occurred in 2000. Six other Colorado City men already plead innocent in Superior Court. Read more | |
| County attorney mum on report of new Jeffs charges | |
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By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, August 24, 2005 | |
| COLORADO CITY - Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith would not confirm or deny Tuesday that more charges are pending against Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches polygamy as part of its doctrine. A Salt Lake City television station reported Monday night that Jeffs is facing more charges stemming from arranging marriages of underage girls. Smith's office successfully obtained a grand jury indictment against Warren Steed Jeffs, 49, on June 9. The two class-six felony charges include sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Those charges are based on Jeffs allegedly setting up a marriage between a 28-year-old man and a 16-year old girl. The alleged crime occurred on or between March 28, 2002, and June 30, 2002, in the vicinity of Colorado City. A warrant for Jeffs' arrest was issued. Mohave County grand jury indictments also were issued on eight other men residing in the Colorado City area, including former police officer Rodney Holm, who was previously convicted in Washington County, Utah, of bigamy and illegal sex with a teenage girl who he had taken as a third wife. Read more | |
| Defense fights sexual misconduct allegations | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Thursday, September 8, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. - An attorney representing eight Colorado City men who are indicted for allegedly sexually offending underage ceremonial wives has unveiled his first defense strategy in one of the cases. Bruce Griffen has asked Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez to remand to the Grand Jury the case against David Bateman, 48. Griffen said the panel should not have authorized charges against Bateman because the state can't prove where the alleged offenses occurred. "Even if you assume that the offense was committed, there is no evidence, whatsoever, that establishes the commission of the offense is in this jurisdiction, let alone the state of Arizona, frankly, let alone anywhere," Griffen said. "If the state can't establish where a crime was committed it cannot establish jurisdiction for this court to proceed with this case." Read more | |
| Case involving Colorado City man sent back to grand jury | |
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By Jennifer Bartlett Kingman Daily Miner Originally published September 14, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN The cases for three Colorado City defendants moved forward Monday, while another was sent back to the grand jury. All the defendants face charges related to sexual conduct with a minor. The prosecution suffered a setback in the David Bateman case when Superior Court Judge James Chavez granted defense's motion to remand the case to the grand jury for a new determination of probable cause. Chavez denied, however, the defense's motion to dismiss the case altogether. He also ordered that if the grand jury makes a new finding of probable cause, the bond previously made by the defendant will remain in effect. Bateman is charged with sexual conduct with minors and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with minors. Rodney H. Holm came before Superior Court Judge Steven F. Conn Monday for a case management hearing. Both Holm and his attorney, Bruce Griffin from Flagstaff, participated by telephone. Holm is charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor. According to Griffin, he does plan to file motions in this case, the one of note being a motion to remand the case to the grand jury for a new indictment. Read more | |
| Smith won't quit | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published September 16, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. - The defense attorney representing eight Colorado City polygamists charged with alleged sex an offense involving underage ceremonial wives has been successful in what is the first of several grand jury challenges. The basic argument is not that the crimes never occurred, but that the state cannot prove the alleged crimes occurred within its jurisdiction at the time they were supposedly committed. Prosecution apparently did not demonstrate the men were actually in Mohave County when the alleged sex acts with underage girls occurred. Bruce Griffen is contesting grand jury proceedings that produced indictments against several of the defendants. Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez has sided with Griffen in the state's case against Donald Bateman, 48. Judge Chavez has remanded the case back to the Grand Jury for a new determination of probable cause. Read more | |
| Former polygamous police chief says he never notified authorities of child-welfare cases | |
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The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast Sunday, September 18, 2005 | |
| PHOENIX A former Colorado City Police chief told investigators that he never notified child-welfare authorities in Utah of sexual abuse cases he investigated in two polygamist towns along the Arizona strip. According to records released last week, Sam Roundy told an investigator for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board that he failed to notify state authorities about the 20 to 25 child sexual abuse cases he's investigated over the years in Colorado City and Hildale, Utah. Roundy is an admitted polygamist. He has a wife and two companions with whom he has 21 children. The 50-year-old Roundy resigned this year. His police certification in Utah has been revoked and similar actions are pending in Arizona. Most of the residents of Colorado City and Hildale are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which preaches polygamy as a central tenet. | |
| Polygamists' attorney tips hand on strategy | |
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By Mark Lewis Kingman Daily Miner Originally published October 22, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN The attorney for eight Colorado City men indicted for allegedly sexually offending underage ceremonial wives made it clear Thursday that freedom of religion will likely be a strategy in exonerating his clients of any legal wrongdoing. Flagstaff defense attorney Bruce Griffen has until 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 to file such a motion. Mohave County attorney Matt Smith has until 5 p.m. Dec. 9 to file a return motion. In court Thursday, Smith said the state is contemplating a course of action that would make religious beliefs not applicable in this case. Regarding possible developments in the case, Smith said, "It's all uncharted territory." Accused polygamists Randolph J. Barlow and David Romaine Bateman both appeared in Mohave County Superior Court Thursday, the former for an omnibus hearing and the latter for a case management conference. Read more | |
| Always a bride | |
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By Rebecca Traister salon.com Originally published October 25, 2005 | |
| The New York Times today published a story by Timothy Egan about the country's largest polygamous community, the neighboring towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah. The community is run by a radical sect of the Mormon Church called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The sect's leader, 45-year-old Warren Jeffs, is currently a fugitive, wanted on charges of sexual assault because he allegedly forced a 16-year-old-woman to marry a 28-year-old married man. Despite his physical absence, he still manages to exert control over the community, teaching his followers that a man cannot go to heaven unless he has three wives. Jeffs himself has as many as 70, sources told the Times. It's common practice in these two towns for women to be taken from their parents, husbands and children and reassigned to other husbands, often against their will. Women under the age of 18 are forced to marry older men. Read more | |
| Deadline set for alleged polygamists | |
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By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, October 31, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN - A Mohave County Superior Court judge set a deadline Monday for defense motions for six of eight Colorado City men charged with having sexual relations with underage girls. The six men belong to a polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Colorado City near the Utah border. Judge Steven Conn set Dec. 16 as the last day for Bruce Griffen, the attorney for all six men, to file pre-trial motions. Conn also set Dec. 30 as the last day for County Attorney Matt Smith to reply to any defense motions. Conn is expected to set a trial date for the six men after that date. Griffen, speaking by phone, said one of the motions may be to preclude the charges because of religious freedom. Read more | |
| Religion to be used as defense for polygamists | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published November 1, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. - Freedom of religion will be offered as a defense for eight Colorado City polygamists who are indicted for alleged sex offenses involving their underage ceremonial wives. Bruce Griffen, the Flagstaff attorney representing the various defendants, made that clear during a pretrial hearing conducted from Kingman by telephone Monday. "We will be filing some motions that go to the issue of religious freedom and that will go to the core of our defense," Griffen said. Mohave County attorney Matt Smith said a court ruling on the motion could resolve each of the pending cases. The defendants are charged with illegal sexual conduct with underage minors assigned to them in ceremonial marriages recognized not by law but by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Read more | |
| Woman Sues Fugitive Polygamist Leader | |
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Washington Post Originally published December 14, 2005 | |
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A woman on Tuesday sued a fundamentalist Mormon church and its fugitive polygamist leader, claiming he forced her as a young teenager to marry a much older man. The civil lawsuit names church leader Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon church and still practices polygamy. The woman, who in court papers is identified only as "M.J.," asks for a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages. The lawsuit contends that Jeffs performed the marriage ceremony without her consent and then commanded her and her new husband to "multiply and replenish the Earth." "The nonconsensual spiritual marriage, the required sexual relations and M.J.'s resulting pregnancies have been physically and emotionally devastating to M.J.," court documents state. Jeffs, 49, has been a fugitive since June when he was indicted in Arizona on charges of sexual assault and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct on a minor. Read more | |
| Family Members Accuse Warren Jeffs of Abusing Children | |
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast December 14, 2005 | |
| Ward Jeffs, Warren Jeffs' Brother: "And he must be brought to justice. He's not beyond the law even if he holds some title of a prophet of a church. He has to be stopped." A brother and a nephew of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs today accused him of sexually abusing young boys and girls for many years. And they laid the blame on Jeffs for a tragic family suicide. Jeffs' relatives say he took advantage of his position in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, using threats of hellfire to force sex acts on boys and girls as young as five-years old. It's clear that religious and sexual turmoil have torn the Jeffs family apart. If the allegations we heard today are true, it's also clear there are crimes in the polygamist community that are not victimless crimes. Read more | |
| Lawyer challenging constitutional ban on polygamy | |
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The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast December 19, 2005 | |
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KINGMAN, Ariz. A Flagstaff lawyer is asking a couple of Mohave County Superior Court judges to strike down the anti-polygamy provision of the Arizona Constitution. Bruce Griffen represents eight men who practice polygamy in Colorado City. They're charged with sex offenses involving their church-assigned underage wives. Griffen offers religious freedom as a partial defense. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith says religion does not convey freedom to sexually offend children. Smith and Griffen will argue these matters in a pretrial hearing Wednesday.
___ Information from: Dave Hawkins/KGMN-FM, http://www.kgmn.net/ | |
| Polygamy Motion: Freedom of Religion? | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published December 20, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, AZ - The Flagstaff lawyer representing eight polygamists from the northern Arizona town of Colorado City charged with alleged sex offenses involving their underage ceremonial wives is offering freedom of religion as part of his defense strategy. Bruce Griffen raised the issue in pretrial motions filed in the case against Randolph Barlow. "Barlow's complete defense is pinned to his practice of religion," Griffen wrote in a motion asking that the judge and jury hear experts and evidence involving the evolution and culture of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The defendants and most residents of Colorado City and the neighboring community of Hilldale, Utah are FLDS members. Griffen argues an understanding of the church and its beliefs is crucial to a fair consideration of Barlow's defense. He said FLDS members believe polygamy is essentially a mechanism for procreation and salvation. "The highest of the three orders of heaven can be attained only by living the law of celestial, or plural marriage," Griffen's motion stated. "The purpose of plural marriage is not sexual gratification, but procreation." | |
| Defense Says Polygamy Is Not The Issue | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published December 20, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN, AZ - In another pretrial motion in the Barlow case, Griffen asks Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez to strike down Arizona's Constitutional ban on polygamy. Griffen argues Judge Chavez should consider the history of attempts to regulate or restrict bigamy and polygamy. "Arizona's anti-polygamy clause is the archaic result of the attempts by the federal government in the late 1800's to destroy the Mormon church," Griffen wrote. "It is a tale of legal persecution, majoritarian high-handedness and intolerance cloaked in the disguise of morality." Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith contends court review and consideration of the church and laws addressing bigamy and polygamy is unnecessary. "The fact that the Defendant is apparently someone who practices or believes in polygamy has no relevance in this case," Smith wrote in his response to Griffen's motions. "The problem with the Defendant's conduct in this case is not that he is practicing polygamy, but that he is having sexual relations with a child." Read more | |
| Rumors about FLDS leader swirl | |
| Did he fly into Colorado City, perform marriages? | |
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By Geoffrey Fattah Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, December 22, 2005 | |
| Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS Church wanted by the FBI, flew into Colorado City under the nose of law enforcement and performed several marriages. At least that's the rumor swirling in and around the twin polygamous towns of Hildale and Colorado City, an attorney appointed to oversee the United Effort Plan trustee case told a 3rd District judge Wednesday. In an update to the efforts to set up an advisory board to handle UEP properties, court-appointed fiduciary Bruce Wisan said he was told that wanted FLDS leader Warren Jeffs had flown into Colorado City in a small private plane and was whisked away in a vehicle just a week ago. Shortly after, rumor circulated that three to four girls were taken from the community in cars, relayed to other vehicles, and taken to a remote field where Jeffs performed marriages. Wisan was told that the rumor had been reported to the FBI, however, special agent Brent Robbins with the FBI's Salt Lake City office said none of the agents involved in the search for Jeffs are aware of the rumor and could not confirm if the rumor was legitimate. Read more | |
| Smith's gambit | |
| County attorney's decision to drop one charge ruins religious freedom defense for polygamists | |
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By Jeff Pope Kingman Daily Miner Originally published December 23, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez denied five of seven motions on Wednesday that were filed by an attorney representing a Colorado City man accused of sexual assault because county prosecutor Matt Smith dropped one of the charges against the man, making the motions unnecessary. Randolph J. Barlow, 32, is charged with two counts of sexual assault. The charge of sexual conduct with a minor was dropped. One of the dismissed motions asked Chavez to strike down the anti-polygamy clause of the Arizona Constitution (Article 20, sec. 2). The clause is one sentence: "Polygamous or plural marriages, or polygamous co-habitation, are forever prohibited within this state." Read more | |
| Colorado City man loses bid to challenge ban on polygamy | |
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The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published December 24, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN - An accused Colorado City polygamist lost his bid to have the state's constitutional ban on the practice overturned when state prosecutors dropped one of three charges he was facing. Randolph J. Barlow, 32, had been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one charge of sexual conduct with a minor. The underage-sex charge was dropped Thursday, and a Mohave County judge then denied several motions his lawyer had filed, including one challenging the constitutional ban. Dropping the underage-sex charge makes the case solely one of sexual assault and guts the defense strategy to mount a religious defense, defense lawyer Bruce Griffen said. "The state's strategic maneuver . . . has ruined the vast majority of what we were going to do today," Griffen said. Barlow and seven other Colorado City men face sex charges related to their marriages with girls younger than 18. They were already legally married to other women when they married the underage girls. Read more | |
| Griffen Sets Polygamy Ban Pretrial | |
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By Paul LaVoie & Desiree Peeples e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published December 27, 2005 | |
| KINGMAN. AZ - Flagstaff lawyer Bruce Griffen has scheduled a pretrial hearing for tomorrow in Mohave County Superior Court to challenge the anti-polygamy provision of the Arizona Constitution. Griffen is the attorney who represents the eight men from Colorado City who are facing charges for practicing polygamy in the predominantly Mormon community in north Mohave County. The men are charged with numerous offenses involving sexual misconduct with their underage wives. Griffen is attempting to remove the polygamy ban from the state's constitution while Mohave County attorney Matt Smith counters that religious freedom does not include the right to abuse children sexually. | |
| No better than pedophiles | |
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Letters From the Issue of Thursday, January 12, 2006 Phoenix New Times Originally published January 12, 2006 | |
| I first noticed John Dougherty's latest article in his "Polygamy in Arizona" series on the New Times [national] Web site (www.newtimes.com), and as the opening statement introducing the story touts, this may be the "most shocking development yet" in Phoenix New Times' reporting on the abuses of the fundamentalist Mormons ("Forbidden Fruit," December 29). Which is saying a lot -- since previous stories have uncovered widespread rape of young girls by older men who have forced them, with the church prophet's blessing, into sham marriages (some of these guys have 30 "wives"). These old men are no better than the pedophile priests in the Roman Catholic Church that we've been reading about for almost a decade now. In fact, they're worse, because they use religion to sanctify their sordid crimes. But I digress from my central point, which is that the latest story on church-required inbreeding producing babies with monster deformities and severe mental retardation is almost unbelievable. That is, it would be unbelievable if it weren't going on in [Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah], where atrocities have been tolerated by state officials for decades. Read more | |
| Judge shoots down challenge to ban | |
| State constitution’s polygamy prohibition won’t be an issue in FLDS man’s trials | |
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By Jennifer Bartlett Kingman Daily Miner Originally published January 13, 2006 | |
| KINGMAN – Superior Court Judge James Chavez denied three separate motions challenging the state constitutional ban on polygamy in the case of David Romaine Bateman, one of eight men from Colorado City facing criminal charges. The attorneys in this case presented oral arguments Thursday on seven separate motions filed by defense attorney Bruce Griffen. Griffen asked Chavez to invalidate the Arizona Constitutional ban on polygamy. He said that, given a modern analysis of the religious practices of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it was no longer a valid ban. The religious practices of Bateman, he said, would inevitably come into the case and the ban adversely affects the defense. Chavez asked Griffen how a Superior Court ruling would affect the proceedings in this case, given that the defendant is not charged with polygamy. Read more | |
| Hildale man gets retrial in Iron County | |
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The Spectrum Originally published January 18, 2006 | |
| BEAVER — A Hildale man who is charged with rape and forcible sex abuse in Beaver will have a second trial on the charges and it will take place in Iron County. Parley Parker Pratt Stubbs, 31, was found guilty of the felony crimes in 2001, but the appeals court overturned the ruling and the Utah Supreme Court upheld the appellate court ruling. The appeal was based on the fact that the jury was "inappropriately selected," Judge G. Michael Westfall recalled in court Wednesday. "We asked for a change of venue initially because too many people knew each other," defense attorney Ed Brass said. "That’s just how it is in small towns." The alleged crime took place in 2000 and although Stubbs in not from the Beaver area, the victim and her family is. For more information, please see tommorrow's edition of The Spectrum & Daily News. | |
| Sex abuse case to move to Iron County | |
| Hildale suspect's venue appeal OK'd; verdict overturned | |
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By Elizabeth Carlile The Spectrum Originally published January 19, 2006 | |
| BEAVER - The second trial for a Hildale man charged with rape and forcible sex abuse in Beaver will take place in Iron County. Parley Parker Pratt Stubbs, 31, was found guilty of the felony crimes in 2001, but the appeals court overturned the ruling and the Utah Supreme Court upheld the appeals court ruling. The appeal was based on the fact that the jury was "inappropriately selected," Judge G. Michael Westfall recalled in court Wednesday. "We asked for a change of venue initially because too many people knew each other," Defense Attorney Ed Brass said. "That's just how it is in small towns." The date of Stubbs' second trial has yet to be scheduled. The alleged crime against a Beaver woman took place in 2000. Since his conviction in September 2001, Stubbs has been in prison. Read more | |
| Birth defect is plaguing children in FLDS towns | |
| Fumarase Deficiency afflicts 20, is linked to marriages of close kin | |
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By John Hollenhorst KSL TV Channel 5 deseretnews.com Originally published Thursday, February 9, 2006 | |
| It's one of the darkest secrets of the Warren Jeffs polygamist community. An especially severe form of birth defect is on the rise and may mushroom in coming generations. "I don't want to describe it in too much detail," said Isaac Wyler, who was related by marriage to some of the victims. "It's not a real pretty sight." According to experts and former Jeffs followers, the cause of the birth defect is clear: Intermarriage among close relatives is producing children who have two copies of a recessive gene for a debilitating condition called Fumarase Deficiency. They predict the scale of the problem will increase dramatically in the future. Wyler, who has lived in the polygamist community most of his life, said he expects residents to continue marrying close relatives. "Around here," Wyler said, "you're pretty much related to everybody." Read more | |
| Woman Who Escaped Polygamy Breaks Silence | |
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KUTV Channel 2 CBS Broadcasting Inc Originally broadcast February 9, 2006 | |
| (KUTV) She sparked an investigation that forced polygamist leader Warren Jeffs into hiding. Now for the first time since she escaped her old life Ruth Stubbs is breaking her silence. "Girls need a choice. They need a choice of whether they can get married or not," said Stubbs. Twenty-three-year-old Ruth Stubbs is probably not what most people think of when they think of a revolutionary. "Do you feel like a trail blazer? No I feel like just a normal person," said Stubbs. Make no mistake about it. This young mother of four has rocked the world the closed and secretive polygamist world along the Utah-Arizona border. "I was scared when I came out to the outside world ... was scared and I was watching my back and I was wondering who was going to hurt me and who was going to hurt my kids," said Stubbs. Ruth fled the polygamist town of Colorado city, Arizona in February 2002 with her two oldest children and a third on the way. "I felt like a slave ... I felt like I didn't have any control over my life," said Stubbs. Read more | |
| Pillar of the Community? | |
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By Michael Weiss slate.com Originally posted Friday, February 10, 2006 | |
| Latter-day Love: Next month HBO will premiere its latest drama Big Love, about a Utah-based polygamist family (Bill Paxton, his three hot wives, and all their children). The Mormon Church, however, is already fretting about pop-culture-exacerbated stereotypes and is quick to point out that it officially banned simultaneous marriages more than a century ago. Yet, some bloggers insist that such might be the de jure policy on Latter-Day Saints' "I do's," but it is not the de facto practice out West. Latter-day Londoner Sarai at Anglofille grew up in the exact Utah town where Big Love is set. While she's none too pleased to see polygamy being made sexy (insert joke about fistfuls of Viagra), she's nevertheless "glad that the Mormon Church and the people of Utah will once again be shamed on the international stage for the disgusting and degrading practice [which] is still practiced by tens of thousands of people in Utah and the Colorado/Arizona border towns. Church leaders and government officials have done virtually nothing to put a stop to a practice that often sees very young girls (we're talking 12-year-olds) 'married' to 60-year-old men." Read more | |
| Hildale Man Sentenced In Kingman | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published February 13, 2006 | |
| KINGMAN, AZ - A man who violated his young sister in border communities where polygamy is widely practiced has been sentenced in Arizona following completion of his sentence in Utah. David Leroy Steed, 22, was given five years probation during sentencing in Kingman. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steve Conn said he would impose no further jail time, sentencing Steed to the 200 days he has served in custody in Arizona. Judge Conn noted Steed served 276 days in custody in Utah for violating his sister in the border town of Hildale. Steed pled guilty to attempted sexual conduct with a minor for improper contact with a sister who was 8-years-old at the time the offense was committed in July, 2003. "I'm sorry. I know I did wrong. We all make mistakes," Steed said during sentencing. | |
| Barlow's Trial Date Set | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published February 21, 2006 | |
| KINGMAN, AZ - It looks like Randolph Barlow will be the first in a group of men from Colorado City to be tried for alleged sex offenses involving underage women assigned as wives through the polygamy practicing Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez has scheduled Barlow's trial in Kingman to begin March 10. Barlow, 31, is charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual misconduct with a minor. Prosecutor Matt Smith said the victim, a ceremonial wife allegedly assigned to Barlow by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, was 16 years old at the time of the alleged offenses in 2002. Jeffs, 49, remains a federal fugitive under local indictment for conspiracy in that his assignment of underage women to legally married adult men allegedly enabled them to be victimized. Read more | |
| Woman Who Escaped Polygamous Sect Revisits Past | |
| Laurene Jessop Confronts Husband Who Also Married Her Sister -- Will She Forgive Him? | |
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Primetime ABC News Originally broadcast March 2, 2006 | |
| March 1, 2006 — Last summer was Laurene Jessop's first trip back to polygamist-run Colorado City, Ariz., since her escape from, what was, to her, an isolated and forbidding world 18 months earlier. She had no idea what to expect. "I'm nervous," she said. "I want to be able to walk through town and not be handcuffed, and if the police officers decide to handcuff me, what to say?" Laurene said she was taken by force to a mental institution three times for disobeying her husband. She finally got away with the help of an anti-polygamy activist, and won custody of her five children. Laurene returned to Colorado City several months ago to prove to herself that the polygamist sect that runs this town no longer has power over her, and to confront the demons from her past, including sexual abuse by her father. Even after all that, Laurene found it difficult to completely break free from her past life. Recently, her journey took a strange U-turn back to Colorado City. Read more | |
| Barlow Fails To Reach Plea | |
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Sunday, March 5, 2006 | |
| KINGMAN, AZ - The March 1st deadline has come and gone and still no plea agreement in the case against one of the Colorado City polygamists accused of sex offenses involving underage church-assigned wives. That means that Randolph Barlow, 31, will be the first in the group of similary-charged defendants to stand trial in Mohave County Superior Court. Judge James Chavez will preside over the trial scheduled to begin March 13th. Barlow is charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual misconduct with a minor. Prosecutor Matt Smith said the victim, a "celestial" wife assigned to Barlow by church leader Warren Jeffs, was 16-years-old at the time of the alleged offenses in 2002. Jeffs, 50, is a federal fugitive under indictment for conspiracy, in that his assignment of underage women to legally married adult men enabled them to be victimized. Click here for more details on the FBI's website. | |
| Trial rescheduled in Kingman for polygamist | |
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The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally published March 9, 2006 | |
| KINGMAN, Ariz. A problem with a key witness has forced a postponement in next week's scheduled trial of a Colorado City polygamist charged with sex offenses. The charges against 31-year-old Randolph Barlow involve his underage bride, who authorities say was 16 at the time of the alleged offenses in 2002. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith says the young woman failed to comply with a subpoena handed her yesterday. Smith says the woman was to see a Utah judge, who would have instructed her of a legal obligation to appear for Barlow's trial next week in Kingman. Since Smith says the woman didn't show up in court yesterday, the judge overseeing Barlow's case in Kingman rescheduled Bar | |