Word: polygamists
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ARRESTED. Warren Jeffs, 50, fugitive leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamist Mormon sect, who had been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list since May; for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men; near Las Vegas. Jeffs, who is believed to have at least 40 wives and 60 children, is officially the church's "President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator." He was traveling in a car with a wife, a brother, several disguises and cell phones and more than $50,000 in cash. Jeffs, who vanished after being indicted...
...This is a very historical move on the FBI's part," says former polygamist Rowenna Erickson, who hails from the Kingston polygamy group, which is unrelated to Jeffs' and has its own lawsuits related to abuse. "There are a lot of groups that need to be addressed and this will ripple out and have a negative impact on those polygamy groups...
...power is what fundamentalist polygamy is about and that is what Warren Jeffs represents," says John Llewelln, who points out that Jeffs is the leader of the largest and most secretive of the fundamentalist polygamy groups. Llewelln has authored four books on polygamy and is a former polygamist himself; he also worked as Salt Lake County's deputy sheriff, specializing in sex crimes investigations. "From the fundamentalist Mormon polygamist point of view, Jeffs is the quintessential Mormon polygamist because he does not hold himself accountable to any government or societal rules - only his religion. His followers view him as having...
...success of the Fischer prosecution, Arizona and Utah authorities hope that other polygamy-abuse cases in the pipeline can be tried without victim testimony, including seven other men from the FLDS community scheduled to stand trial. This is the largest group to be prosecuted for crimes related to their polygamist lifestyle since the 1950s...
...Some polygamists, however, worry that the legal action will turn into a kind of witch hunt. Polygamist Marlyne Hammon, who lives in Centennial Park - a community that split from the FLDS church about 20 years ago - fears that polygamists will be targeted while non-polygamist women can still marry young without worry. The authorities, she says, "don't apply the law across the board." There are many girls in Arizona who do not practice polygamy, she adds, but have children with men who are older. "What about those girls?" She also points out that some young polygamist women...