Warren Jeffs’ Own Records Helped Convict FLDS Leader, Prosecutors Say

Warren Jeffs, the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, kept detailed records of his activities, including every marriage he performed, every young woman he wed, and recordings of his intimate moments. Prosecutors said those records, including an audiotape of what they described as Jeffs sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he had taken as a bride, helped authorities secure two child sexual assault convictions against the 55-year-old leader.

Prosecutors now hope the same evidence will support a life prison sentence. Jeffs is regarded by his followers as God’s spokesman on Earth. Jurors who convicted him in West Texas were scheduled to begin deciding his punishment on a Friday, and they were expected to hear evidence about numerous alleged crimes that were not part of the trial.

Eric Nichols, the lead prosecutor for the Texas Attorney General’s office, said Jeffs had 78 wives in addition to his legal spouse, and that 24 of them were under age 17. Nichols also said he would present evidence that Jeffs committed six other sexual assaults and either witnessed or performed more than 500 polygamist marriages, as well as 67 other sect marriages involving underage girls.

Jeffs spent years evading arrest as a fugitive who moved across the country and eventually appeared on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. He was captured in 2006. Nichols said Jeffs excommunicated 60 church members whom he viewed as a threat to his leadership, an action that broke up 300 families. He allegedly stripped those members of property and reassigned wives and children.

Jurors deliberated for three and a half hours before finding Jeffs guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, whom he had wed in what his sect calls “spiritual marriages.” Prosecutors used DNA evidence to show that Jeffs fathered a child with the older victim. They also played an audio recording of what they said was Jeffs assaulting the younger girl, along with other tapes in which he allegedly instructed as many as a dozen of his young wives on how to please him sexually, which he told them would please God. Both victims entered into their unions willingly and did not testify at the trial. Nichols told jurors that under Texas law, the crimes were serious enough that the convictions did not require the victims to bring charges.

Jeffs went through seven lawyers in six months and chose to represent himself after jury selection the previous week. His courtroom conduct turned the trial into what often felt like a surreal religious gathering. He said God had threatened everyone involved with a biblical scourge if the case was not stopped immediately. He later filed a motion to remove state District Judge Barbara Walther, saying the Lord had told him she was afflicted with a crippling disease that would soon kill her. The motion was unsuccessful. Walther suffered polio as a child and walks with a limp. During his closing argument, Jeffs stood nearly silent, looking at the floor for almost all of his allotted half hour. He finally turned toward prosecutors and the jury, most of whom avoided direct eye contact, and said he was at peace before saying nothing more.

Authorities raided the sect’s remote Texas compound, called Yearning For Zion, in April 2008. Jeffs had argued that his religious rights were being violated. Officers found women wearing frontier-style dresses and 19th-century hairstyles, and they saw underage girls who were visibly pregnant. The abuse hotline call that prompted the raid proved to be a hoax. More than 400 children who had been placed in protective custody were eventually returned to their families, an outcome that reflects the duty to protect the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3). Investigators also seized a large quantity of documents, including hundreds of pages of Jeffs’ personal journals, which he called his “Priesthood record.” Those records helped lead to sexual assault and bigamy charges against a dozen men from the sect. All seven men prosecuted before Jeffs were convicted and received prison sentences ranging from six to 75 years.

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