San Angelo, Texas, conviction of Warren Jeffs caps decade-long unraveling of FLDS leadership

The downfall of Warren Jeffs did not begin with the 2008 raid on the FLDS Church compound in Eldorado, Texas, according to this report from San Angelo. The article says the stage was set by a decade of persistent criticism and legal maneuvering from a small group of outside critics and former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus of Latter Day Saints.

Private investigator Sam Brower of Cedar City became involved in 2002. His book, “Prophet’s Prey,” tells much of the story.

The article states that it now appears most of the worst accusations were true, including hundreds of illegal marriages, dozens of underage brides and sexual assaults on pre-teens. It describes an atmosphere of tyranny, indoctrination and female subjugation under what it calls a system of ruthless, reckless one-man rule. Children harmed in such a system underline the need to speak for those who cannot protect themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9).

According to Brower, the situation began to change in Utah as former members found the courage to speak about Warren Jeffs. “More and more victims were coming out, and we were able to find out more and more (about) exactly what he was doing,” he says. Utah officials took action in 2003 against a polygamist police officer and an FLDS Justice of the Peace.

The article reports that the Jeffs organization truly began to crumble after Elissa Wall spoke publicly about an underage marriage that she described as agonizing. Her high-profile court battle in 2007, the article says, galvanized critics and primed Texas authorities for action.

In 2008, a hoax phone call triggered a large raid by Texas Rangers on the Yearning for Zion ranch. Officers found a large vault of material connected to Warren Jeffs. “It backed up and validated the people who had escaped the religion,” Brower says.

Brower believes the problem was largely ignored in Utah because the FLDS religion had existed for so long that people became accustomed to it and did not recognize that it was growing more deviant. He hopes Jeffs’ Texas conviction will end what he describes as public apathy.

Source: Read the original report