FLDS leader and two others accused in suit of sexually abusing boy
 
The Associated Press
 
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A former member of a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border has filed a lawsuit that alleges three of his uncles one of them the head of the sect sexually abused him when he was a child.

The lawsuit by Brent Jeffs, 21, of Salt Lake County said the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man.

"Those defendants explained to plaintiff that it was 'God's will' that he never disclose the abuses to anyone, and if he did, it would be upon pain of eternal damnation," the lawsuit filed late Thursday in 3rd District Court alleged. "Thus, for many years, the frightened child remained silent."

The lawsuit names Warren Steed Jeffs, 48, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs.

Ron Parker, an attorney for the church, said the church and Jeffs denied the allegations.

"The church and President Jeffs believe that the filing of this action is part of a continuing effort by enemies of the church to defame it and its institutions," he said in a statement. "President Jeffs is confident that ultimately these allegations will be shown to be a total fabrication."

The claims the sexual abuse occurred in the 1980s at Alta Academy, the church's now-closed private school in Salt Lake City, when the boy was 5 and 6 years old.

He is seeking unspecified damages from his uncles and the church, claiming its leaders knew of the "perversity and sexually predatory acts" but did nothing to stop them.

Brent Jeffs also is asking for reimbursement of all money he and his parents paid into church trusts and an order stopping the church leaders from disposing of any assets.

The FLDS church in the twin communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, plus other polygamist sects have been under investigation in recent years, primarily for allegations of marriage of underage girls, coercion and welfare cheating.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told The Arizona Republic that he received a copy of the suit Thursday and was considering expanding his investigation to include the new allegations.

"We are very interested in the information in the complaint and are looking into the allegations to determine whether to open a criminal investigation," Shurtleff said.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard was at the Democratic National Convention in Boston Thursday night and did not return calls, the newspaper said.

It quoted Brent Jeffs' attorneys as saying he "decided to come forward with this information after his brother, Clayne, who lived in the same FLDS community, committed suicide."
 
The Associated Press
Originally published Friday July 30, 2004
 
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