Polygamy in America

From the show Polygamy in America: Lisa Ling Reports The Oprah Winfrey Show

Lisa's next stop in her investigation into the secret world of polygamy was Colorado City, Arizona — home to Warren Jeffs and his followers. When his father, Rulon, died in 2002, Jeffs assumed control of the largest and most secretive polygamist sect, known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS. Jeffs allegedly controlled the marriages of his followers, assigning wives to favored members and taking wives away from others. In May 2006 Jeffs was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List — and was later featured on America's Most Wanted — based on charges that he organized "marriages" between men and underage girls. In August 2006 he was arrested near Las Vegas. And in September 2007, Jeffs was convicted on two counts of accomplice to rape. He now awaits sentencing and a second trial in Arizona on multiple charges of both accomplice to incest and sex with minors. Lisa's guide in Colorado City is Carolyn Jessop. Carolyn was raised by three mothers and has 36 brothers and sisters. At 18, she says she was forced to marry a powerful 50-year-old FLDS leader, Merril Jessop. Carolyn had eight of Merril's 54 children, but she says she was always desperate for freedom. Four years ago, she risked her life by taking her children and escaping Colorado City in the middle of the night. Carolyn says her ex-husband and Jeffs were very close. She says Jeffs always chose young, pretty girls for his wives. "When I lived in the community, he had upwards of 60 [wives]," she says. "But I've heard stories and reports now from people who have left that now he has upwards of 180." Carolyn and Lisa's first stop in Colorado City is Merril Jessop's former house. She says she was Merril's fourth wife, but he added a fifth and sixth wife within six months. As they stand on the street in town talking, passing cars honk their horns at Lisa and Carolyn. "I'm sure we were not here for very long before word was circulated through the entire community that there's media here," Carolyn says. But Carolyn says she isn't scared of FLDS members. "I think I've got a lot of strength in standing up to things I believe are wrong and so I'm not intimidated by it," she says. "I know that it makes them very angry I'm here." After leaving Merril's house, Carolyn and Lisa next go to see if they can speak with Carolyn's sister. They knock on the door and hear people inside, but no one answers. "It's tragic but then it's not shocking," Carolyn says. "When you leave this, you know what your consequences are and this is one of the consequences. It doesn't make it easy." In her book Escape, Carolyn Jessop recounts her life in Jeffs-controlled Colorado City...and her dramatic escape. "I was not going to leave my children behind and so I basically escaped during the night when my ex-husband was away and it was very, very frightening." She says she wasn't able to just leave because her husband was so powerful and close to Jeffs. "I basically knew too much," Carolyn says. Carolyn says the polygamist community that she was in was very isolated—there was no television, Internet, radios or newspapers. "Warren Jeffs locked this community down," she says. "They imposed, essentially, a morality police force that would rat on women if they weren't adhering to the proper dress code and have their hair a certain way." Lisa says she observed stark differences between the two polygamist communities of Colorado City and Centennial Park. "Many of the people from Centennial Park are actually from Colorado City," she says. "But when the FLDS evolved, the folks from Centennial Park broke off. And they're actually a much more moderate and liberal people." While Centennial Park seemed like an open community, Lisa says Colorado City felt very different. "We knew that we were being watched, obviously," she says. "People's houses had mirrored windows so people inside could see out, but you couldn't see in. It was just so surreal that this exists in the United States." "When I left [Colorado City], it was like landing on another planet," Carolyn says. "I didn't even understand that there were basic human rights that I actually possessed as a woman. I was used to doing what I was told to do and you do not question." Meanwhile in Centennial Park, Lisa says, "Richard has five flat screens in his house." Carolyn says she thinks the best way to reduce the negative effects of polygamy is through decriminalizing it, because legalizing would be nearly impossible. "You'd have to rewrite every law that pertains to marriage, and there's no way to do that without jeopardizing traditional marriage," she says. "If there was a way to decriminalize it, people could live honestly and in the open and with dignity and their children could be more mainstreamed. Then the children would have more options."

oprah.com Originally broadcast October 26, 2007

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