Jail resumes force-feeding FLDS leader Jeffs
 
By Linda Thomson
Deseret News
 
Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, who has been fasting to such an extreme degree that his life is in jeopardy, is once again being force-fed by staffers at an Arizona jail.

The jail started force-feeding Jeffs on Friday, but jail spokeswoman Trish Carter said Jeffs began eating again, although it was unclear exactly when Jeffs resumed eating. At that point, the jail staff stopped the force-feeding.

However, Jeffs began refusing food again late Monday afternoon so jail staffers resumed forcing nutrition and fluids. Carter said jailers are keeping a close eye on the leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church.

"He's being monitored," Carter said. "Warren Jeffs is in a private cell already and he's just being watched closer now. They have to force-feed him instead of just laying down a dinner tray."

The extra effort may be more work for employees at the Mohave County Jail, but Carter said workers there do what is necessary to attend to prisoners' needs.

"Jail staff has to do what it has to do. We have to keep an inmate healthy and alive," she said. "He's got a judge and jury to speak to."

Kirsten Mortenson, the medical director at the Mohave County Jail, earlier informed a judge that Jeffs had been refusing to eat and she expressed concerns that the lack of hydration and nutrition were jeopardizing Jeffs' life. Mortenson told Superior Court Judge Steven Conn in a letter filed with the court on Monday that Jeffs' health was declining and that medical intervention was necessary to avoid "imminent death."

In the past, Jeffs also has had health problems with excessive periods of time spent on his knees praying, resulting in severe sores. The jail at one time required the church leader to pray on his knees for only 15-minute intervals three times a day.

Carter said Tuesday she did not know if the restriction on kneeling was still in effect.

Jeffs has been held in the jail in Kingman, Ariz. since February 2008. He is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of incest, and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, according to Carter.

Jeffs, who still leads the FLDS Church which practices polygamy, was convicted in Utah of two counts of being an accomplice to rape. The charges stemmed from Jeffs' involvement in arranging a "spiritual marriage" between a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old male.

A Utah judge sentenced Jeffs to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life. In addition to the Utah conviction and pending Arizona charges, Jeffs also faces felony charges in Texas and the federal court system.

Jeffs' critics have claimed he arranged and presided over "marriages" between underage girls and older men within the FLDS Church.

The FLDS Church is primarily based in the adjoining cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., with enclaves in Texas and Canada and has no connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com
 
DeseretNews.com
Originally published Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009
 
Back