Warren Jeffs Indicted in Arizona
Jun. 10, 2005
Alex Cabrero Reporting
The Mohave County Attorney in Arizona has a message for polygamists who
live along his state's border with Utah.
Matthew Smith, Mohave County, Arizona Attorney: "Twenty-eight year
olds cannot have sexual intercourse with 16-year olds in the state of
Arizona."
He's filed criminal charges against Polygamous leader Warren Jeffs for
arranging a plural marriage with a 16-year old girl. A lot of people
have been wondering if this day would ever come. Now that it has, it's
just a matter of finding Warren Jeffs.
Arizona wants him, so does Utah. All this started because a victim in
Jeff's polygamous group was willing to come forward to Arizona
authorities. That's what Utah needs in order to go forward with charges
of its own, but as we know, charging Jeffs is one thing, finding him is
something else.
Mark Shurtleff, Attorney General of Utah: "It's gonna be difficult
because he's elusive. He hides. He has a lot of loyal people around him
to keep him safe."
Any state attorney general can probably tell you one case that's always
bugged them. For Utah's Mark Shurtleff that one case just might be
Warren Jeffs.
Mark Shurtleff: "I want to charge him, but in law enforcement, we just
don't charge people because we want to. We have to have a case we think
we can prove, and that requires a witness."
And a witness is exactly what came forward to authorities in Arizona. A
16-year old girl in Colorado City told police Jeffs arranged a marriage
between her and a 28-year old man. For that, Mohave County district
attorney Matthew Smith filed charges on the girl's behalf, and today
a grand jury indicted him.
Matthew Smith: "Matthew Smith, Mohave County, Arizona Attorney:
"Twenty-eight year olds cannot have sexual intercourse with 16-year
olds in the state of Arizona."
Now there are warrants for Jeffs' arrest. But, as Shurtleff can
probably tell Arizona officials, you have to find him to arrest him.
Mark Shurtleff: "He's got all the money in the world, a private
aircraft. So in order to locate him, we're going to have to have
somebody come out and say we know where he is."
Popular thinking is that Jeffs is in his newly-built temple in El
Dorado, Texas. Utah officials went there to serve him civil papers, but
were turned away. Because this case Arizona has is a criminal case,
they have a bit more power to go in.
So just who is Warren Jeffs and what do we know about his church?
He took over the helm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints in September of 2002 when his father, Rulon Jeffs,
died at the age of 92. Warren Jeffs took much tighter control of the
group, leading to several lawsuits.
In 2004 six so-called "Lost Boys", former members of the group banished
by Jeffs, filed suit, accusing him of trying to get rid of surplus boys
and men.
This year Warren Jeffs moved much of his group to El Dorado, Texas
where they've built a temple. Hundreds gathered there this past April,
but a purported Jeffs prediction that the world would end on the sixth
didn't pan out.
Most recently a Utah court froze the assets of the FLDS church's trust
fund, rumored to be worth 100 million dollars. The action followed
reports that Jeffs had started to divest the fund and wasn't acting in
the best interests of all church members.
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