Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
John Hollenhorst Reporting New felony charges against fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs have been leveled, and they're the most serious yet. Jeffs is charged with assisting in the rape of a teenage girl. They're the first criminal charges against him in Utah.
From court documents, it's obvious she described her ordeal to investigators in great detail. From what we know, speaking against her religious leader must have been an extraordinarily painful and difficult step.
Warren Jeffs' power over his victims is extreme, his critics say, because his crimes have a uniquely powerful undercurrent.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: “Crimes of guilt and embarrassment and humiliation.”
Private investigator Sam Brower has helped law enforcement agencies pursue cases against Jeffs. The new case involves a young teenager from Hildale, Utah. Jeffs is accused of ordering her to marry an older man. She protested, saying she was too young. But she was taken to Nevada and Jeffs performed the marriage, saying it was God's will.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: “In this case, there's also the culture and the religion heaped on top of it. That's always the power that the perpetrator has over the victim.”
Investigators say Jeffs frequently performed marriages at a motel in Caliente, Nevada, sometimes as many as a half dozen marriages in a single day.
The girl claims the new husband forced her to have sex against her will. When she begged Jeffs to undo the marriage, he ordered her to submit to the older man, mind body and soul. Now, she's on the short list of witnesses against Jeffs.
Sam Brower: “And the victims here, the ones that are coming forward, are really the heroes that are overcoming that guilt.”
The prosecutor emphasized they're going after real crime, not just polygamy among consenting adults.
Brock Belnap, Washington County Attorney: “We want people to have faith in coming forward. That would be undermined if we prosecuted solely on the basis of polygamy.”
It's not certain where Jeffs is. Private Eye Brower thinks he's hunkered down at his compound in Texas. But even Brower isn't sure lawmen ought to move in, because of the obvious risks.
