Polygamous sect leader's daughter wants to ditch her attorney

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9669956

Excerpts

An FLDS teenager is taking a dispute with her attorney public, claiming the attorney is making her life "harder" and asking the lawyer to "please leave me alone."

Teresa Jeffs, 16, a daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs, gave The Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday a copy of an e-mail she sent Natalie Malonis, of Flower Mound, Texas, after seeing news reports about her case. On Friday, Malonis won a court order banning contact between an FLDS spokesman and the girl.

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In a telephone interview, Jeffs said Malonis is "fighting my own father and made it so I can't write to him." She has visited her father once since his arrest and incarceration in 2006.

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Malonis, whorepresents two other FLDS children, defended her actions on behalf of Jeffs and said she believes the teenager is being pressured by the sect.

"There is no question I am absolutely looking out for her," Malonis said. "What's happening is really a shame because people who purport to care about her are really doing her a disservice."

Malonis said she just wants Jeffs to be free of any outside influence and make her own decisions. "Right now, that's not happening," the attorney said.

In court papers filed Friday, Malonis alleged that Jeffs' push for a new attorney was due to coercion from FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop and asked 51st District Judge Barbara Walther to bar them from having contact. Walther temporarily ordered Annette Jeffs, the girl's mother, to keep her from Jessop and set a court hearing in the matter for Tuesday in San Angelo.

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She denied that anyone was influencing her desire for a new attorney, telling Malonis that "you need to realize that I have a mind of my own and I can do things on my own if I choose to."

Writing to the judge was "my own dear choice," she said in her e-mail. "Quit blaming it all on someone else when you have absolutely no proof. No one can change my mind, not even Willie!"

States meet, Intimidating FLDS members, & FLDS family keeps state away

Law enforcement from several states meet to discuss polygamy http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700233862,00.html

Excerpts

LAS VEGAS — Top law enforcement from Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Texas have gathered here for a closed-door summit on polygamy-related crimes.

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The group is meeting to map out a plan to go after crimes connected with polygamy. It is the first time they have met since the U.S. Justice Department appointed a senior level prosecutor to assist. The meeting came out of a very public spat between Shurtleff, Goddard and U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who accused Utah and Arizona of "doing nothing" about polygamy.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said the summit is a good way for all the states to get on the same page.

"We're just here to talk about issues we have in common," she told the Deseret News.
Law enforcement has refused to say what.

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Beyond the marriages, authorities have conducted probes into financial crimes and child abuse. Shurtleff and Goddard have sought a federal task force to push those investigations forward.

Tolman told the Deseret News that Wednesday's summit was not a "task force meeting" that Reid had envisioned, but an opportunity to share information between multiple agencies.

Washington County sends dossiers of select FLDS members to Texas officials http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700233581,00.html

Excerpts

The Washington (Utah) County Sheriff's Office sent Texas authorities dossiers of several FLDS members "who may engage in acts of intimidation or violence again law enforcement and/or potential witnesses."

William Roy Jessop

• AKA "Willie the Thug" or "King Willie"
• The most serious threat affiliated with the FLDS religion.
• Reportedly has a passion for violence, weapons (legal and illegal) and explosives.• Accused of intimidating witnesses at Warren Jeffs' trial in 2007.
• "If anything remotely resembling violence or intimidation occurs, you can be fairly certain that William had a hand in it."
• Has acted as a spokesman for the FLDS Church after the raid on the YFZ Ranch.• Lives in Hildale, Utah.

Ruth Cooke

• A "wild card" who is "blindly devoted to Warren and the FLDS religion."

• "We reviewed countless letters she had sent to Warren that confirmed her unstable behavior, as she talked of disturbing visions she had received and breaking down the prison walls in the name of the prophet."

• "She is just the kind of person who may be capable of doing something crazy, but justified in her head."

Lindsay Hammon Barlow

• Several witnesses describe him as Warren Jeffs' "muscle."

• Barlow was "clearly in charge of the group's security."

• During Warren Jeffs' trial, Barlow "attempted to seat individuals who could intimidate the witnesses in their direct line of sight."

• Lives in Hildale, Utah.

William E. Jessop

• "Respected as a bishop in the FLDS religion."

• "He is a very powerful man in the community, but I have never received any information that would indicate that he is involved in anything of a violent nature."

• "Could be involved in the decision-making processes due to his position of power."
• Lives in Hildale, Utah.

Lyle Steed Jeffs

• Brother to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

• Acted as wedding security during illegal marriages conducted in Nevada.

• "Minimal information to suggest that Lyle would be considered a threat to commit acts of violence or witness intimidation."

David S. Allred

• Involved in the financial areas of the FLDS Church.

• "Fairly high in the FLDS pecking order."

• "I do not have any specific information that would label David as a threat, nor do I have any that would discount him as a threat."

Nephi Steed Jeffs

• Brother and personal assistant to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

• "To the best of my knowledge, he is not involved in any FLDS security and has no known history of violence or intimidation."

Wendell Loy Nielson

• One of the presiding elders in the FLDS religion.
• "He is not likely at this time to be involved directly in any acts of violence or intimidation, but may still be involved in their development, planning and approval stages."
  

Rodney Hans Holm

• Convicted of unlawful sex with a minor in Utah in 2006
• "Known to have significant disdain for law enforcement."
• "Rodney also was under the close watch of our court security staff during the trial, as he appeared at times to be attempting to intimidate witnesses from his seat."

Rulon Daniel Barlow

• "Rulon seemed to be extremely focused on the routines of our court staff and repeatedly seemed to be staring down the prosecuting attorneys and their witnesses."
  

Dee Yeates Jessop

• "Appears to be another intimidating enforcer for the FLDS religion."
• Was more interested in intimidating witnesses with "menacing" stares during Warren Jeffs' trial than the trial itself.
• He has been described as a fanatic, who is blindly devoted to Warren Jeffs."
  

Samuel Rapylee Bateman

• "Showed an unnatural interest in the security procedures and routines of our staff during the trial."
  

Donovan J. Stubbs

• "Seemed to be taking mental notes of the security staff present."
• "Donovan carried himself well and seemed to be respected by the other members of the FLDS group. When he spoke, others listened."
  

Guy Curtis Bauer

• "Seemed to "make it a point to be noticed by the prosecution's victim and witnesses whenever possible."
• "Seemed to be there for the purpose of intimidation.

Guy E. Nielson

• "Appeared to make several discreet attempts at intimidating the victim and members of her (Alissa Wall's) family."

Nathan Mead Jessop

• "Multiple witnesses confirm Nathan Jessop is a member of the FLDS security team."

• One of three men who came to a woman's home and informed her she was no longer a worthy member of the community, a task generally reserved for Warren Jeffs' security staff.

FLDS couple granted an order to keep state away

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5828409.html

Excerpt

A couple from a polygamist West Texas sect won a small victory Monday, even as their custody hearing was put on hold.

Judge Martha Tanner of the 166th District Court granted Lori and Joseph Jessop Sr. a temporary restraining order against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, along with the temporary custody they had already gained of their three children.

Not All Kids Going Home

Just one article today (finally!). A really good summary of the situation in general. Some women and their kids are not going back to the ranch and some teens aren't leaving at all. The after math of this situation seems all too telling.



Polygamy's Child Brides Not Yet Rescued by Raid: Ann Woolner
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_woolner&sid=acs1pkGYP1ws

Excerpts

But even a few weeks in the outside world showed the children and their mothers an alternative to the oppression so many of them suffer, says Jessop, who wrote a book about her experience, ``Escape.''

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And yet, the raid has freed at least some of the women and children from the sect. Now that the courts released them from state custody, not all are returning to the FLDS compound, according to Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for the Texas Child Protective Services. She says she can't say how many.

Court Records

We know from court records of one 16-year-old girl not returning home. And an unspecified number of the 72 boys who had been staying at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo aren't returning to the Eldorado complex, either, ranch president Dan Adams told USA Today.

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Texas raided only after authorities, acting on a tip that now seems to have been a hoax, visited the compound and saw clearly underage girls who were pregnant. They interviewed parents who saw nothing wrong with marrying girls to older men once the girls reached puberty. Residents gave conflicting, evasive and downright false information when questioned, according to the state.

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You can only rarely prosecute polygamy as a standalone crime, or remove children from homes due to it, because it is so difficult to prove and blowback from such raids makes them counterproductive.

Teenager gets protection & DNA finally comming in

Jeffs' daughter wins protections
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_9470842

Excerpts

A 16-year-old girl who, her attorneys said, was sexually abused in a West Texas polygamist group led by her father, Warren Jeffs, was given added legal protections Tuesday by a district judge who barred any contact between her and Jeffs.

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The new court order does not accuse Jeffs of abusing his daughter, who was released to her mother Tuesday afternoon. But the order signed by Judge Barbara Walther, who is overseeing the sect case, bars the girl from having "any contact, in any form," with Jeffs and another man, Raymond Jessop.

The girl's attorney, Natalie Malonis, and another lawyer, Tim Edwards, who represents the girl's mother, declined to say anything about who Jessop is or his relationship to the girl.

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In another development Tuesday, DNA test results from nearly 600 sect members — 462 from children — began arriving at Wal ther's court. The tests were ordered in an attempt to determine parental linkages and specifically to see whether girls younger than 16 had been married in violation of Texas law.

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A spokesman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, Patrick Crimmins, said the agency could not comment on what the DNA reports showed or how the results might figure into the continuing civil and criminal cases.

Kids go home and new promises made!

An all around positive day. FLDS kids can go home but families stay monitored and questioned as the case is still gathering evidence. As a bonus, this FLDS sect has made a promise to not allow underage marriages. Hopefully, a more positive outcome lies in the FLDS kids future.

Texas sect children reunited with happy parents

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRHjN4hpNKBhfYyAsR4DDo4QD912HU8G0

Excerpts

Parents took 129 of the roughly 430 children in foster care on Monday after a judge signed an order clearing the children to leave with their parents, bowing to a state Supreme Court ruling that the seizure was not justified.

Child welfare officials expected many of the remaining children to go home Tuesday as parents traveled across the sprawling state to foster facilities where the children were scattered.

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Judge Barbara Walther's order requires the parents to stay in Texas, to attend parenting classes and to allow the children to be examined as part of any abuse investigation.

But it does not put restrictions on the children's fathers, require the parents renounce polygamy or force them to leave the Yearning For Zion Ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect of the Mormon church.


FLDS makes concessions regarding plural marriage rules

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9462175

For nearly 10 years, the FLDS withstood government pressure and refused to make any public concession on its marriage practices. That changed Monday when the polygamous sect released a four-paragraph statement vowing to abide by marriage age laws in all states. Spokesman Willie Jessop read the declaration, saying it had been issued by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Asked who authorized it, Jessop said, "Joseph Smith." He also said he was unaware if FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs had any hand in crafting the statement. Here is the statement:

• The church's policies regarding marriage have been widely misrepresented and misunderstood. Indeed, much of the misinformation circulating on this subject seems designed intentionally to fuel the flames of prejudice against the church.

• The church's practices in this regard continue a long tradition of marriage in this country that would have been found to have been unremarkable in 19th century America. In the FLDS church all marriages are consensual. The church insists on appropriate consent, including that of the woman and the man in all circumstances.

• Nevertheless the church is clarifying its policy toward marriage. Therefore, in the future, the church commits that it will not preside over the marriage of any woman under the age of legal consent in the jurisdiction in which the marriage takes place. The church will counsel families that they neither request nor consent to any underage marriages. This policy will apply church-wide.

• The church believes in purity, cleanliness, and innocence. Our children and families are the cornerstones of our lives and our religion. We hope that this modest clarification in policy will alleviate recent concerns and allow the church and its families to reside in peace among our neighbors.