Daughter of Warren Jeffs Alleges Sexual Abuse Began at Age 8

Rachel Jeffs, a daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, has described being sexually abused by him starting when she was 8 years old, according to an interview that aired on “Megyn Kelly Today.” The abuse, she said, occurred repeatedly despite her mother’s attempts to intervene. Rachel Jeffs, now 33, recounted confronting her father about the abuse in a letter when she was 16.

Other former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including Roy Jeffs, Warren Jeffs’ son, have also accused him of sexually abusing them as children. Rachel Jeffs has written a book detailing her experiences, titled “Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs.”

Warren Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in Texas for assaulting girls he considered wives. He has not had a lawyer and did not respond to NBC’s request for comment.

At 18, Rachel Jeffs was informed she would become the third wife of a man in the group, a breakaway sect based along the Utah-Arizona border. The prospect left her shaken and fearful, as did her father’s suggestion that she attempt to become pregnant with her new husband’s child on the day of the wedding.

She eventually left the group after her father sent her away from her children for months at a time over perceived wrongs she denied committing. “I felt that he was punishing me for what he did to me,” she said. “Like he was trying to break me and make me feel like I was worse than him.” She added that she refused to let herself be broken by his actions, knowing he had done wrong and not wanting to let him break her.

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