Warren and Rulon Jeffs

Rulon Jeffs (pictured on the right) was the eighth prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, serving from 1986 to 2002 (The FLDS is a sect of the Mormon Church). When the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church banned polygamy in the 1890s so Utah could become a state, the FLDS was created because, among other reasons, they still believed in polygamy. Jeffs had 19-20 wives, 27 daughters and 33 sons.

Warren Jeffs (on the left), the son of Rulon who declared himself the ninth prophet of the Fundamentalist Church after his father’s death, married most of his father’s widows, making him the stepfather of some of his brothers. He also married women who were close relatives, but claimed that it was necessary because as a descendant of both Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, he needed to preserve the family bloodlines. He believes that a man must have at least three wives to make it to heaven, but the more wives, the better. He is estimated to have somewhere between 70 and 80 wives, including Naomi, who married his 90-year-old father when she was only 17. Warren was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List in 2006 for arranging marriages between adult men and underage girls. He was arrested a couple of months later and charged with that, plus sexual conduct with minors and incest. He was found guilty of two counts of rape as an accomplice and sentenced to 10 years to life in prison, which he is now serving. In 2008 the smoking gun website released images of Warren Jeffs with his then 12 year old wife posing to celebrate their one year anniversary.