Warren Jeffs

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Polygamist With 20 Spiritual 'Wives' Gets 50 Years

Samuel Bateman ran an offshoot of Warren Jeffs' sect, 'married' underage girls

(Newser) - A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual "wives" including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap...

Polygamist Can't Give Deposition: Lawyer

(Newser) - Imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has suffered a mental breakdown and isn't fit to give a deposition in a sex abuse case against him, according to a court filing in Salt Lake City. Forcing Jeffs to testify would be "futile," said lawyers for a community trust that...

Warren Jeffs' Son, Who Said Dad Abused Him, Dead at 26

Roy Jeffs is said to have taken his own life

(Newser) - A son of Warren Jeffs who was one of the first to say the polygamist had sexually abused his own children has died. The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that Roy Jeffs, 26, was found dead at his Salt Lake City home on Friday. He would have turned 27 on...

Fox's Carlson Responds to Flap Over Radio Comments

He's not apologizing after Media Matters unearths audio it calls 'misogynistic'

(Newser) - Today's media flap involves liberal advocacy group Media Matters going after a familiar target—Fox News, and specifically host Tucker Carlson. The group released a video in which it compiles comments Tucker made on the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show between 2006 and 2011. "Misogynistic and perverted"...

Why All Eyes Are On Elections in a Remote Utah Town

Polygamist FLDS group seems to be losing long-held grasp on the town—including local politics

(Newser) - In a place where political contests are virtually unknown, campaign signs offer the latest hint that a polygamous group is losing its grip on a remote community on the Utah-Arizona border. "For Hildale mayor vote Donia," reads a sign featuring Donia Jessop, a candidate pictured with a contemporary...

Lyle Jeffs Faces 5 Years in Prison After Year on the Run

The polygamous sect leader pleads guilty in food stamp fraud case

(Newser) - A polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run has pleaded guilty in an escape and food-stamp fraud case. Lyle Jeffs pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Salt Lake City, the AP reports. He was charged in what prosecutors call a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud scheme as well...

Warren Jeffs Ordered to Pay $16M to a Former Child Bride

Elissa Wall was forced to marry her cousin at 14

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs must pay $16 million to a woman he pressured to marry her cousin when she was just 14. Elissa Wall, a child bride within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was awarded $4 million in damages and $12 million in punitive damages Tuesday, some 12...

Polygamous Leader Found Guilty of Having 25 Wives

Another former leader of the community found guilty of having 5 wives

(Newser) - Two former leaders of an isolated polygamous community in Canada were convicted Monday of practicing polygamy after a decades-long legal fight, setting up another potential court battle over the constitutionality of Canada's polygamy laws. Winston Blackmore, 60, and James Oler, 53, were found guilty by British Columbia Supreme Court...

Year After Slippery Escape, Warren Jeffs' Brother Is Caught

FBI says he'll face trial for fraud, money laundering

(Newser) - Lyle Jeffs literally slipped from the FBI's grasp last summer, so the agency will likely hold on a little tighter now that he's back in custody after a year on the run. Jeffs, the 57-year-old brother of polygamist Warren Jeffs and a leader of the Fundamentalist Church of...

Warren Jeffs' 65th 'Wife' Wants You to Tour His House

She plans to open Utah mansion to tourists, tenants

(Newser) - The Utah mansion was once home to pedophilia and polygamy. Now, it could host tourists. Brielle Decker, the 65th of Warren Jeffs' 79 wives, fled his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints five years ago. She now plans to turn the 41-bedroom home the polygamist sect leader...

Warren Jeffs' Brother Literally Slips From FBI's Grasp

Thanks to ... olive oil?

(Newser) - The brother of jailed polygamous Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs is on the run from the FBI after using "some sort of lubrication, possibly olive oil," to wriggle out of his ankle monitor, say police. Lyle Jeffs, one of 11 leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ...

Utah's Polygamy Ban Is Back
 Utah's Polygamy Ban Is Back 
Apr 12, 2016 12:13 AM CDT

Utah's Polygamy Ban Is Back

Court reinstates law in Sister Wives case

(Newser) - A federal appeals court has ruled against four women and their husband in a move that means Utah once again has the toughest anti-polygamy law in the nation. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2013 ruling that effectively decriminalized polygamy by removing penalties for married people cohabiting with...

Warren Jeffs' Son Opens Up About Sect Life

He says he was harshly punished for confessing thoughts

(Newser) - A son of jailed polygamous leader Warren Jeffs says he was manipulated, shuffled around the country, and assigned to work crews to atone for his perceived transgressions before leaving the sect last year. The comments by Roy Jeffs, now 23, provide a window into the secretive sect based on the...

Warren Jeffs' Kids Say He Molested Them

New accusations against the polygamous Mormon sect leader

(Newser) - Two adult children of imprisoned, polygamous Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs tell CNN Jeffs sexually abused them as children. Becky and Roy Jeffs recently left the 10,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints; two of Jeffs' other children have done the same. Becky Jeffs tells CNN...

Texas Seizes Warren Jeffs' Infamous Ranch

Nearly 6 years after FBI agents raided the property

(Newser) - The secluded Texas ranch where followers of imprisoned polygamist Warren Jeffs lived in near isolation was seized by state agents yesterday, nearly six years after FBI agents raided the property and removed 439 children amid child sex abuse allegations. (All of the children were eventually returned. But about a dozen...

Warren Jeffs Hospitalized
 Warren Jeffs Hospitalized 
Mar 17, 2014 8:21 AM CDT

Warren Jeffs Hospitalized

Not clear why, or when

(Newser) - Warren Jeffs has been taken from the Texas prison where he's serving a life sentence to a hospital in Galveston. The news comes via a simple update to his offender information page on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website; it's not clear what is wrong with the...

Texas Moves to Seize Warren Jeffs' Ranch

He's imprisoned, but his polygamist sect remains on 1,600-acre spread

(Newser) - Texas authorities succeeded in getting polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs locked up for life for sexually abusing underage girls, and now they want to shut down the massive ranch where his followers still live, reports the Salt Lake Tribune . The state attorney general today took the first step in seizing...

Polygamous Towns in Arizona, Utah Sued by Feds

Fed suit says non-members of FLDS targeted for harassment

(Newser) - Two adjoining towns on the Utah-Arizona border are being sued by the Justice Department, which charges that the polygamous towns are discriminating against nonbelievers in the area, reports the AP . The bulk of residents belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a group controlled by...

Warren Jeffs Taps 15 Men to Father All Followers' Kids

Imprisoned FLDS leader issues edict, say sources

(Newser) - Imprisoned pedophile Warren Jeffs has issued an edict from his Texas cell naming 15 men who are to father all children conceived among his polygamy followers, sources have revealed. Sex is forbidden for all others, even married men, who will only serve as family "caretakers" for children fathered by...

Oops: Did Warren Jeffs Preach From Prison?

If so, the polygamist leader broke the rules

(Newser) - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs may still be preaching to his sect—over the phone. "We have confirmed that Jeffs made two phone calls on Christmas Day to a relative," a Texas official tells the Los Angeles Times . "At this point, we're investigating whether he may have...

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