Teen Who Fled Polygamy Follows Warren Jeffs Case, Plans College

Among those closely following the case of Warren Jeffs, the former leader of the Fundamentalist LDS movement, is a 19-year-old woman who left the polygamist lifestyle. Reporter Amanda Butterfield of KSL profiled her and her former friend, both named Fawn, who escaped Jeffs’ rule three years earlier.

Fawn Broadbent has worked to build a new life since leaving what she describes as the Warren Jeffs clan. She returned to school for her junior and senior years and said she earned almost four years of credit in two years, though she is still working toward her diploma. She recalled that when she first left, she believed Jeffs was president of the United States, and she had doubted scientific facts such as dinosaurs and the moon landing, which she thought were staged. Now, she is among the top students in her district. She has received several awards, including Most Improved Student in the Jordan School District, and this spring she plans to attend Weber State University on a scholarship.

Broadbent said she is excited about college but nervous about moving away from home.

Her friend, Fawn Holm, has had a harder path. According to the report, Holm returned to the polygamist lifestyle and became involved with drinking and drugs. She is now in Boston, Massachusetts, trying again to start a new life in a program that helps people leaving cults adjust to the outside world, Broadbent said.

Broadbent has also followed the legal case against Jeffs. He faces charges of forcing young girls to have sex with older men. The report says he appeared in closed-circuit court for an initial appearance, and Broadbent watched the proceedings. “I hope he will be charged to the full extent,” she said. “He’s not above law, neither are they, they need to follow the law.”

Broadbent’s main focus is completing her remaining high school credits so she can start college in March, where she plans to study criminal justice. Her goal is to help protect children who are involved in legal proceedings (Proverbs 31:8-9). “So I can help children have a voice in court,” she said. “Give them a strong voice, they need one.”

Source: Read the original report