Johnson visits polygamous communities
 
By David Bell
Today's News-Herald - Havasu City
 
While Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith successfully prosecutes Colorado City men accused of having sex and fathering children with underaged girls, Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson is making sure the victims are still being heard.

Johnson was in Colorado City and sister city Hildale, Utah, over the weekend, once again speaking with those that are seeking a change in the community, as well as those that believe their religious freedoms are being challenged.

"I'm trying to get more information about how things are progressing, trying to get more help for the people trying to get out," said Johnson. "People are seeking help now. Some don't want to do away from the lifestyle, they just want a new leader."

Johnson, along with former state Sen. Linda Binder and the late Marie Meahl, for years fought for investigations of alleged abuses in the northern Mohave County Community. Abuses that former resident Flora Jessop said continue to run rampant under the authority of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

Jessop, founder of the organization Help the Child Brides, was with Johnson over the weekend, also providing an update on one of the recent escapees, Fawn Broadbent, 18.

In 2004, Broadbent, along with Fawn Holm, ran away from Colorado City rather than be married to older men as ordered by church leader and self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs. Jessop took the two girls in and helped them secure protection by Arizona Child Protective Services, before the girls ran away again because the state was allegedly restricting contact with Jessop.

Now 18 years old, Broadbent is working towards her high school diploma. "Within two years she went from being at a fifth-grade level to a 12th-grade level," said Johnson.

The FLDS practices polygamy. It teaches that a man cannot reach heaven without having at least three church sanctioned wives and that a woman cannot reach heaven unless she is married to a man with at least three wives.

The celestial (plural) marriages are performed by the church but are not recognized by the state of Arizona, which only allows a single marriage by law. That means every wife after the first who bears children is considered a single mother by the state and eligible for medical, food and welfare benefits.

In addition to the alleged financial abuses, women have reported being assigned a marriage as young as 14, their children removed from them if they did not obey their husbands or church leaders explicitly, beaten by wives higher in the pecking order in their households and assigned to new husbands if their current husband dies or is excommunicated from the church.

Johnson and Jessop spoke with some of those women recently and were surprised to find that almost all had contemplated or attempted suicide.

"Women were getting things off their chest, to get support for the trauma they've experienced. We have volunteers that have offered counseling," said Johnson. "Some of the women don't want the help, some don't want to re-live it. It was pretty emotional."

It's not only women that are allegedly abused but young boys as well. Jessop has spoken often about the "Lost Boys," the teens exiled out of the community or dropped off in Phoenix with only the clothing on their backs, because too many males present a threat to the men in power.

The boys suffer numerous problems including alcoholism and drug abuse. Six of the former residents have filed suit against the church for economic and psychological damage.

Johnson said he was encouraged by his latest visit to the community, saying he saw more new faces. What he found was more people believing the problem was Jeffs' almost tyrannical ruling of the community.

"Honestly it's moving too slow for me but for a lot of them they think it's moving pretty fast. A lot of changes are coming. Some of the people are afraid of those changes," said Johnson. "We will get together again, try to get more people out and get more information about the drugs in the area."

Jeffs is currently listed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. He is believed to have at least 50 celestial wives, many of them former wives of his father and former FLDS leader, the late Rulan Jeffs.

- You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com
 
havasunews.com
Originally published Tuesday, July 25, 2006
 
Back