Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Sentenced To 10 Years
The polygamous leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect (FLDS) was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year-old girl to “spiritually” marry her 19-year-old cousin and commanding the naïve bride to submit to sexual relations against her will.
The sect’s teachings state that a man must have at least three wives to reach the highest realms of heaven. The sect split more than a century ago from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which disavowed polygamy in 1890 in a political compromise to gain statehood for Utah. The mainstream church excommunicates anyone practicing polygamy.
People like Mr. Jeffs are the very worst kind of criminal. They use their intelligence and charisma to manipulate people and pray on them. Worst of all they claim themselves to be a “prophet” or some kind of divine being. Warren Jeffs is a despicable human being, that deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.
He was only sentenced to 10 years, but Jeffs is still awaiting trial for one count of rape. This case also highlights a larger problem in our society. Law enforcement has turned a blind eye for decades as secretive communities of polygamists sprang up around the country.
When talking about illegal immigration, people like to argue that the federal government has a responsibility to enforce the laws of this nation. I agree with that, but they have a responsibility to enforce all laws in this country not just immigration.
Polygamy is against the law in this country, and molesting children is against the law in this country. Just because you follow a religion that makes those things acceptable doesn’t make them legal.
I can assure you if the secretive FLDS communities were thought to be stockpiling weapons, they would be raided without hesitation. But since all they do is keep women against their will and molest children, it’s not that big of a priority for law enforcement.
One glimmer of good appears to have come from the Warren Jeffs case. Two weeks ago, Judge Shumate unsealed jailhouse videotapes, a mental health competency report and other documents describing a crisis of faith last winter by Mr. Jeffs and his deteriorating mental health.
Those records show that after a month of praying and fasting in his cell at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, Mr. Jeffs relinquished his role as sect leader in conversations with church members and family.
“I am not the prophet. I never was the prophet, and I have been deceived by the powers of evil,” Mr. Jeffs said to a brother in a conversation on Jan. 25 that was videotaped by jail officials.
In another conversation, Mr. Jeffs said he had been “immoral” with a sister and a daughter 30 years ago, according to documents.
Three days later, Mr. Jeffs tried to hang himself in jail. In the days after the suicide attempt, he threw himself and slammed his head against a cell wall, according to the mental health competency report prepared last April.
After he was treated for depression, Mr. Jeffs’s health improved in February, and defense documents state that he recanted his statements about not being the prophet and that he had been faced with a great spiritual test.
I think what Mr. Jeffs was experiencing was a healthy dose of reality rather than depression. For the first time he admitted to himself that he is no prophet, but merely a sexual predator suffering from delusions of grandeur.
The “treatment” he has allegedly received has allowed him to go on believing his own bullshit again. Whatever happens from here, I’m just glad the victims of one false prophet have been given at least some justice. We definitely still have a long way to go.
-Chris Jones
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