What you should know about polygamist cults

Polygamist family, NY Times.

What's so Bad About Polygamy?

Shrouded in secrecy, polygamist sects are rife with child and spousal abuse in the form of beatings, severe punishments, rape, incest, pedophilia, forced marriages, child labor, and the abandonment of young boys.
Read New York Times Topics: Polygamy

Warren Jeffs mug shot

Jeffs Controls Followers From His Jail Cell

Many continue to obey his bizarre and controlling edicts, such as forbidding all dairy and corn products or insisting that all children's toys be thrown out and not replaced.
Watch ABC News Video Reports

Classroom inside FDLS compound

Indoctrination Begins Early

Page through PDF books for early readers and browse over 30 transcripts of the audio tapes used, in place of more traditional educational material, in FLDS classrooms to instill fear and absolute, unquestioning obedience in the children.
FLDS 101: Collected Memories of Alta Acadamy

Ruby Jessop and her children are Free!

Ruby Jessop and her children; Flora Jessop

What are they free to do now that they couldn't do before?

Ruby can: protect her children, have her hair styled, read a newspaper, choose her own clothes, take a walk, wear bright colors, sign up for a course, visit her sister, cook a balanced meal, file for divorce, and decide where how, and with whom she will live from now on.

The children can: wear short sleeves on a hot day, ride a bike, eat fruits and vegetables, go to school, play with toys, go to the library, have their first taste of ice cream, make friends, watch TV, sleep in safety, learn about the world, and imagine what they might be when they grow up.

Sins of the Temple, an Investigative Report

Temple of Church of LDS, Salt Lake City, UT

Originally published by Phoenix New Times in December, 1994

The report reproduced here, by Lisa Davis, is a well-researched analysis of abuses that occur within the mainstream Morman Church. Although the descriptions of abuse it contains are hard to read, they serve to illustrate how the patriarchal structure of a church that holds itself aloof from outside influence sets up women and children for abuse, denies that there is a problem, and then forgives and protects the abusers. The points raised are as valid today as they were in 1994. -CPP

Sins of the Temple by Lisa Davis

Editor’s note: To protect the privacy of sexual abuse victims, some people in this report have been identified by first name only. Those first names are pseudonyms. All other names used in this report are real.