Warren Jeffs' 1600-acre ranch was seized by police. They stated that Jeffs and other adults sexually abused children there. In 2008, police raided the ranch and removed 416 children. When it was discovered that some of the mothers were under 18, that number jumped to 468. Almost 130 women voluntarily left the compound. But, the children were returned when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to show that they were being abused or were in danger. Child protection workers had seen a pattern of sexual abuse there and forced marriages between underage girls and older men. In 2011, Jeffs was found guilty of sexual assault against two girls (one of whom was 12, the other 15) and is currently serving a life sentence. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints openly practices polygamy on this ranch along with Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Of course, sect members deny that any sexual abuse has occurred.
I can't agree with the practice of polygamy. Plus, sexually abusing children? How horrible can you be? Polygamy is basically an excuse for people to have more sexual partners. How can you be in love with 5 people at the same time? People in sects like this are basically brainwashed, or threatened into following what their leader tells them to do. This is also a sad situation for those forced to marry someone, since from what the report said, they were also usually sexually abused by their partners. I'm glad that the sect leader was sent to jail, because that way he won't be able to hurt more people. But it's obvious that he still has a great deal of influence over these people. Maybe now that they won't be able to stay on the ranch, they'll change their ways. But it is also possible that they would just move to another community, since there are several associated with this sect. The religious leader can also reassign a member's wives and children to another man as punishment. It's sick that young people are manipulated into thinking these forced marriages are okay.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/us/texas-yfz-ranch-seizure/index.html?hpt=us_c2
More info about the sect: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/fundamentalist-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-fast-facts/index.html
Absolutely disgusting. The entire situation is incredibly misogynistic and twisted. It also shows that both the reassignment of children and wives to another man as 'punishment' means they view the children and women as objects to be used, not people to make connections with. This screams child abuse.
ReplyDelete