Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 47
were underage when they had sex.‖ He added that the case was not concerned with an
attempt to ―re-educate or brainwash these people and the church in Colorado City to get rid
of their religious beliefs and give up the practice of polygamy. What this case is about is to
discourage people in that community or any other community from having sex with girls
that are underage.‖ The judge concluded by saying that while Fischer was motivated by
―sincere religious belief,‖ he considered it ―abominable‖ and ―very hard to accept [that]
someone can subscribe to a religion that allows them to have multiple wives at the same
time.‖
The County attorney who prosecuted the case said that many of the letters written in
support of Fischer arrogantly implied that ―the laws of the land don‘t apply, just the laws of
the FLDS and the laws of the prophet [leader Warren Jeffs].‖
The charity that assists boys who have been driven out of the polygamous FLDS towns on
the Utah-Arizona border wants to call them ―Children of Diversity‖ rather than continue to
refer to them as the ―lost boys.‖ Current popular usage ―makes them feel like they are lost,
like they are victims, and a lot of these kids don‘t want to be pigeon-holed,‖ said Shannon
Price, director of The Diversity Foundation.
Western Precision, Inc., one of the largest employers among FLDS-linked firms, renamed
Newera, is moving to Las Vegas. The company, which has allegedly given up to $100,000 a
month to FLDS leaders, and generated extra income by demanding free work on Saturdays
and withholding salaries, is in the midst of a legal battle with Bruce Wisan, the federally-
appointed fiduciary now controlling FLDS holdings. Wisan says that Western Precision was
owned and controlled by fugitive FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and the trust when it was sold
to ―insiders and/or alter egos‖ of Jeffs and the trust. An attorney for two former FLDS
members, who sued to protect their interest in church assets, says members are
increasingly branching out from the polygamous communities to places like Las Vegas in
search of revenue to support Jeffs. An FLDS-related construction company, meanwhile, has
reported earning $7.5 million on projects for the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
The polygamous communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints in Utah and Nevada are functioning today much as they did before the recent
arrest of leader Warren Jeffs. The situation of ex-member DeLoy Bateman, who refused to
turn over four of his children to the church six years ago, certainly has not changed. The
three eldest of his 17 children have taken Jeffs‘ side and broken off communication with
their father, even though they live close by. ‖They can never see me again,‖ he said.
―What‘s the difference between that and death?‖ Current members of the church are
following Jeffs‘ orders to say nothing to the press. ..Jeffs was arrested following a routine
traffic stop near Las Vegas while traveling in his 2007 Cadillac Escalade with his wife and a
brother. Jeffs, who at first gave police an alias when asked to identify himself, had in his
possession a variety of wigs and $50,000 in cash but no weapons. ..Jeffs‘ critics say he
reshaped a loving community into a stern, controlled environment, removing children from
the public schools, banning books, music, TV and other forms of entertainment, imposing
dress codes, and forbidding red — the color of the devil (though, when arrested he was
riding in a bright red SUV and wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, clothes not allowed to
followers). Jeffs‘ survival of a premature birth marked him, so his parents thought, as
chosen by God and deserving of special attention. ―That‘s bound to create a monster,‖ says
one former member. ―It created somebody who held it over the other kids and made him
mean. If he gets upset with someone, anything or anyone they care about gets wiped
away.‖ Ex-members hope that his capture will disarm his demands for perfection and
diminish the shame he has inflicted on them. ―It‘s a window of opportunity,‖ said one. ―The
church is absolutely not going to collapse, but I think that with Warren gone, the
stranglehold he‘s had on the people is gone.‖ ...The Nevada Attorney General has
appointed an investigator to look into the state‘s growing polygamous population, mostly
were underage when they had sex.‖ He added that the case was not concerned with an
attempt to ―re-educate or brainwash these people and the church in Colorado City to get rid
of their religious beliefs and give up the practice of polygamy. What this case is about is to
discourage people in that community or any other community from having sex with girls
that are underage.‖ The judge concluded by saying that while Fischer was motivated by
―sincere religious belief,‖ he considered it ―abominable‖ and ―very hard to accept [that]
someone can subscribe to a religion that allows them to have multiple wives at the same
time.‖
The County attorney who prosecuted the case said that many of the letters written in
support of Fischer arrogantly implied that ―the laws of the land don‘t apply, just the laws of
the FLDS and the laws of the prophet [leader Warren Jeffs].‖
The charity that assists boys who have been driven out of the polygamous FLDS towns on
the Utah-Arizona border wants to call them ―Children of Diversity‖ rather than continue to
refer to them as the ―lost boys.‖ Current popular usage ―makes them feel like they are lost,
like they are victims, and a lot of these kids don‘t want to be pigeon-holed,‖ said Shannon
Price, director of The Diversity Foundation.
Western Precision, Inc., one of the largest employers among FLDS-linked firms, renamed
Newera, is moving to Las Vegas. The company, which has allegedly given up to $100,000 a
month to FLDS leaders, and generated extra income by demanding free work on Saturdays
and withholding salaries, is in the midst of a legal battle with Bruce Wisan, the federally-
appointed fiduciary now controlling FLDS holdings. Wisan says that Western Precision was
owned and controlled by fugitive FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and the trust when it was sold
to ―insiders and/or alter egos‖ of Jeffs and the trust. An attorney for two former FLDS
members, who sued to protect their interest in church assets, says members are
increasingly branching out from the polygamous communities to places like Las Vegas in
search of revenue to support Jeffs. An FLDS-related construction company, meanwhile, has
reported earning $7.5 million on projects for the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
The polygamous communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints in Utah and Nevada are functioning today much as they did before the recent
arrest of leader Warren Jeffs. The situation of ex-member DeLoy Bateman, who refused to
turn over four of his children to the church six years ago, certainly has not changed. The
three eldest of his 17 children have taken Jeffs‘ side and broken off communication with
their father, even though they live close by. ‖They can never see me again,‖ he said.
―What‘s the difference between that and death?‖ Current members of the church are
following Jeffs‘ orders to say nothing to the press. ..Jeffs was arrested following a routine
traffic stop near Las Vegas while traveling in his 2007 Cadillac Escalade with his wife and a
brother. Jeffs, who at first gave police an alias when asked to identify himself, had in his
possession a variety of wigs and $50,000 in cash but no weapons. ..Jeffs‘ critics say he
reshaped a loving community into a stern, controlled environment, removing children from
the public schools, banning books, music, TV and other forms of entertainment, imposing
dress codes, and forbidding red — the color of the devil (though, when arrested he was
riding in a bright red SUV and wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, clothes not allowed to
followers). Jeffs‘ survival of a premature birth marked him, so his parents thought, as
chosen by God and deserving of special attention. ―That‘s bound to create a monster,‖ says
one former member. ―It created somebody who held it over the other kids and made him
mean. If he gets upset with someone, anything or anyone they care about gets wiped
away.‖ Ex-members hope that his capture will disarm his demands for perfection and
diminish the shame he has inflicted on them. ―It‘s a window of opportunity,‖ said one. ―The
church is absolutely not going to collapse, but I think that with Warren gone, the
stranglehold he‘s had on the people is gone.‖ ...The Nevada Attorney General has
appointed an investigator to look into the state‘s growing polygamous population, mostly
