ABC News "Primetime":
 Woman Returns To Polygamous Religious Sect To Confront Her Father
 
NewsWatch50 WWTI - Watertown, NY
 
A WOMAN RETURNS TO AN ARIZONA POLYGAMOUS RELIGIOUS SECT TO CONFRONT HER FATHER AND OTHERS IN AN EFFORT TO OVERCOME THE DEMONS OF HER PAST

"Primetime" Airs Thursday, July 28th at 10pm E.T. on WWTI NewsWatch50.

John Quiñones returns to the isolated community of Colorado City, AZ, with anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop and her cousin, Laurene. Last year, Laurene escaped from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints sect, where she was placed into a polygamous marriage arranged by the sect. For Laurene, this trip is an opportunity to confront the father she claims sexually abused her, her mother and other members of the sect -- all in an effort to prove to herself that she’s truly free from the clutches of her past. "PRIMETIME" airs THURSDAY, JULY 28 (10:00-11:00pm ET) on the ABC Television Network.

The FLDS arranges for girls to be married off in their teen years to older men, and expects them to bear many children and obey their husbands’ every command. Laurene, who had fifty-five siblings, moved out of her parents’ home at age 19 and was placed in an arranged marriage to an older man, Val Jessop. On different occasions when she disobeyed her husband, she says, she was sent away from her children to a mental institution. Laurene was once arrested and handcuffed by the town's police, which are, in effect, controlled by the sect. With Flora’s help, she finally fled with her three daughters to Phoenix and later gained custody of her two sons. She tells Quiñones she can only find closure by confronting the people who made her life miserable.

Quiñones reports that the FLDS is a sect under siege, largely because of a modern day Wyatt Earp named Gary Engels. Engels, who was sent into Colorado City by the county attorney to clean up the town, has brought real change. Since "Primetime" first visited Colorado City last year, Warren Jeffs, the self-declared prophet of the FLDS, has become a fugitive from the law, accused of forcing underage girls to marry older men. Still, his flock remains faithful – and defiant.

DIANE SAWYER, CHRIS CUOMO, CYNTHIA McFADDEN and JOHN QUIÑONES are the anchors of "PRIMETIME LIVE." DAVID SLOAN is the executive producer.
 
www.newswatch50.com
Originally published July 27, 2005
 
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