Source: Associated Press
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting an underage follower he took as a bride in what his church deemed a “spiritual marriage.”

It looks like Police are finally going to bring the lawless Fundamentalist Mormons under control. For years these people led by imprisoned child rapist Warren Jeffs have lived outside the law in their compound in Texas. Stories of child rape, child weddings, and children giving birth to children, have been trickling out of the this cult for years.

For some reason people get hot under the collar about illegal immigration, because it’s a violation of federal law. Fine, I can go along with that, but if we’re going to enforce that federal law then we should enforce the federal law against polygamy.

So thankfully, the Police are finally taking a hard look at the kind of show these freaks are running down in Texas. State Troopers attempted to serve a search warrant after being alerted about a marriage between a 15-year old girl and a 50-year old man. The 15-year old allegedly gave birth 8-months ago which is even more cause for concern.

Yesterday evening, child welfare officials removed 52-girls from the compound and by Saturday evening a total of 137 children and 46 women were being housed and interviewed by authorities.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.

The compound sits down a narrow paved road and behind a hill that shields it almost entirely from view in town. Only the 80-foot-high, gleaming white temple can be seen on the horizon. The sheer size of the temple is enough to make even the most ostentatious Saudi Prince blush.

The FLDS has been led by everyone’s favorite pedophile/messiah Warren Jeffs since his father died in 2002. In November, Jeffs was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison in Utah for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl who wed her cousin in an arranged marriage in 2001.

Basically the FLDS is multi-generational Disneyland for pedophiles that the authorities have allowed to flourish under the guise of “freedom of religion.”

In Arizona, Jeffs is charged as an accomplice with four counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls and their older male relatives. He is jailed in Kingman, Ariz., awaiting trial.

The Jeffs trial and subsequent investigations into these wingnuts has shown “freedom” and “religion” are about the last things going on in this place.

I hope the Feds shut this place down and put all the leaders in the damn clink where they belong. Then Maybe the 137+ kids who’ve been imprisoned by this cult will at least have the chance at a normal life.

For the moment at least, the child molesters in charge are refusing to allow authorities to search the compound and negotiations are under way. After the disasters are Ruby Ridge and Waco, Police are not taking any chances and preparing for the worst.

-Chris Jones

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