Warren Jeffs - Prophet of Control, the FLDS Church, and the Mechanisms of Religious Authoritarianism
In 2006, Jeffs was placed on FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for arranging marriages between children and adults, multiple accounts of rape, and sexual exploitation of children.
This isn’t the first time that we’re diving into difficult topics and exploring the minds of people who became notorious for their crimes; from Jim Jones, Charles Manson and the Golden State Killer, to our newest addition to the “people-I’m-thankful-I-didn’t-know” club, Warren Jeffs. The day I learned about his existence and everything he did was a sad day to have eyes. For anyone familiar with my writing and the topics I’m interested in, it won’t come as a surprise that the story of this despicable man sparked interest. And while I can handle quite a bit of gore and vile images or videos, simply reading about Jeffs’ crimes was enough for me to put down my phone and go for a long shower to cleanse myself of the information I gained. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. I’m here today to give voice to so many children who suffered at the hands of Jeffs because to this day most of them carry traumas to last a lifetime. Join me to learn of one of America's most evil men, and bring awareness to topics like this that are trying to be forgotten.
Born in Sacramento, CA, Jeffs’ upbringing was marked by his father’s involvement in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church). Warren himself was closely involved with the Church and in 1976, he became the principal of an FLDS private school in Salt Lake City, UT. Ten years later, in 1986, Warren’s father, Rulon Jeffs became the President of the FLDS Church. According to various sources, Jeffs Sr. went on to have up to sixty wives and “about 60 children.”1
The schism between the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and the FLDS began sometimes in the 1850s, when the then-president of the LDS Church proclaimed that the Short Creek Community will “one day be the head and not the tail of the church.”2 In 1904, the LDS Church renounced polygamy and began excommunicating members who continued to practice it. Following the excommunication, many ex-members of the LDS Church created a variety of fundamentalist Mormon organisations. One of them was also the FLDS.
When Jeffs Sr. died in 2002, Warren became the new President, as well as “Prophet, Seer and Revelator.” Although Jeffs Jr. prohibited senior members of the Church from marrying his late father’s wives, Warren did exactly that. In fact, he did so only a week after taking on his new role. Jeffs Jr. ended up marrying all but two of his late father’s former wives.3 In total, Jeffs Jr. is believed to have had seventy-eight wives.
Warren Jeffs’ reign was tyrannical and likely worse than you could ever imagine. Jeffs Jr. was the only person within FLDS allowed to arrange marriages, and even “discipline” other members by reassigning their wives and children to another man. Moreover, based on ex-members’ accounts, the polygamy was so extensive that it caused bride shortages, resulting in incest, child marriages and abuse.4
Following Warren Jr.’s arrest in 2006, many ex-members of FLDS came forward and shared their experiences and information of what it was like to live inside a polygamous cult. One of Warren’s many sons, Wendell shared multiple instances where as a child, he witnessed his father engage in incest and child sexual abuse.5 Moreover, in 2015, an estranged wife of Warren’s brother, Lyle explained that the FLDS Church imposes a rule that sees the current FLDS president force women of the Church to engage in sexual relations with men identified as “seed bearers” - male members considered worthy of impregnating female members, even if they already had a husband. In layman’s terms, a husband would have to witness one or multiple men rape his wife.6
During a custody dispute that same year, Lyle Jeffs’ wife also explained how women inside the Church had to respect the “Law of Sarah,” a preparatory ritual where female Church members had to engage in sexual activities with other Church women to “prepare” for a sexual encounter with a male member of FLDS. To make matters worse, during Warren Jeffs’ trial it was discovered that many of the “women” who had to engage in the “Law of Sarah” were minors, trafficked across the U.S. border from Canada and Mexico. Between 1990 and 2006, it’s suspected that FLDS trafficked over thirty underage girls who were later forced into arranged marriages with FLDS members.7
Although Warren has been behind bars since 2007, the Church’s teachings remain much the same. The five presidents/leaders of the Church following Jeffs Jr.’s imprisonment have all been problematic, to say the least. Although an ex-member of FLDS has stated that Warren’s brother, Lyle was the designated successor, Lyle was removed from the presidential position by Warren himself in 2012. The most recent claimant to the succession, Samuel Bateman was arrested in 2022 and charged with sexual abuse. According to his family, he went as far as wanting to marry his daughter.8
Drew Binsky’s 2024 YouTube video titled “Entering America’s Only Polygamist Town” reveals that the Church’s headquarters in Colorado City, UT, haven’t changed much since Warren Jeffs’ reign of terror. The physical headquarters might be derelict, but the town’s mentality doesn’t falter. Joined by a son of an FLDS member, Drew takes time to talk to residents of Colorado City in an attempt to understand how much FLDS influenced their views on religion and marriage. Unsurprisingly, many women and men interviewed expressed positive opinions on polygamy, especially in regards to polygyny - a polygamous practice where a man has multiple wives or partners at the same time.
Although not the only religious cult that engaged in polygamy or sexual exploitation of children, FLDS remains among the worst cases of incest, rape and child abuse cases in contemporary U.S. history. Unlike Peoples Temple or the Manson Family, the story of FLDS remains somewhat untold, kept under the rug because of how disturbing it is. Worst of all, it’s ongoing; a community that still sexually exploits women who have been conditioned to think their way of living is the right one. Although child trafficking has supposedly stopped since Jeffs’ Jr.’s arrest and incarceration, there are still hundreds of young women who live within the Church and who have been integrated through arranged marriages to people who were supposed to protect them.
With Warren Jeffs behind bars and an unstable future for the FLDS Church, it’s difficult to say what the future holds for this disturbing community. What has been seen with many religious cults in history is that once the leader is gone, the remainder of the community gradually dissipates. For now, this doesn’t seem to be the case with FLDS. Although wildly estranged from other Mormon communities, the FLDS Church still stand strong and isn’t influenced by an unstable leadership. Whatever the future has in store for this community, I sincerely hope it doesn’t end in another Jonestown.
Driggs 2001, pp. 49-80.
D’Onofrio 2005, pp. 373-394.