Seth Jeffs

Last updated
Seth Steed Jeffs
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSeth Steed
Known forBeing a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints official
Parent(s) Rulon Jeffs and Marilyn Steed
Relatives Warren Jeffs, Nephi Jeffs, Lyle Jeffs, Brent W. Jeffs, Helaman Jeffs

Seth Jeffs is an American high-ranking official in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is known for harboring his brother Warren Jeffs during the federal manhunt to arrest him.

Contents

Family

Seth Steed Jeffs was born to FLDS Prophet Rulon Jeffs and Marilyn Steed, one of his many wives. This made him the full brother of Warren, Nephi, and Lyle Jeffs, as all three shared the same father and mother. [1] The Jeffs family is considered "polygamist royalty" and FLDS members consider their members to be of "royal blood." [2] After Rulon's death in 2002, Warren took over being prophet and president of the FLDS church. [3] This made Seth the brother of the current prophet and son of the former prophet, solidifying his place in the powerful Jeffs family.

Of his relationship with Warren, Seth is said to be "very close" to his brother and described by veteran investigator Gary Engels as "a very intelligent man, very guarded". [4]

Seth is the uncle of Brent W. Jeffs, who mentions Seth in his memoir Lost Boy. [5]

2005 arrest

On October 28, 2005, Pueblo County police deputies were called about a possible drunk driver near the city of Pueblo, Colorado, around 3 am. After pulling the driver over, police found Nathaniel Steed Allred driving the SUV and Seth laying in the back on a mattress. Once authorities realized who Seth was, they obtained a search warrant to search the SUV. In the car officials found US$140,000 in cash, numerous letters addressed to Warren, cell phones, and $7,000 in prepaid debit cards. [6]

After both Allred and Seth were arrested, Allred told the authorities that his cousin Seth had paid him $5,000 for "sexual services" and that he was only a driver for the evening.

Seth was put on $25,000 bail and went before U.S. magistrate judge O. Edward Schlatter to hear the charge that he did "knowingly harbor and conceal Warren Steed Jeffs". Warren was on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List and evading capture at the time. Seth was accompanied to the hearing by his brother Lyle and entered his plea through his lawyer. [7] During the trial in July 2006, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn accepted Seth's guilty plea of harboring a fugitive. Seth refused to give up Warren's location and instead took the federal charge. [8]

Seth was sentenced to three years' probation and a $2,500 fine. In his court statement, Seth stated "I knew what I did was wrong as I was doing it, but I didn't realize the severity of what I was doing. I did all I can to remove myself from this situation ... I never want to find myself in that situation again." [8]

YFZ Ranch raid

Seth attended many of the child custody hearings resulting from the April 2008 YFZ Ranch raid at the Tom Green County Courthouse. [9] During the custody trials, Seth was represented by attorney Carl Kolb. One of Jeffs's wives was represented by Nancy DeLong. [10]

To confirm paternity of the children, since many FLDS members would not cooperate and authorities were often given fake names, the court ordered parents, including Seth, to provide blood samples. [11]

At the time of the raid, Seth had eighteen children. Among Seth's many children to be seized were three boys that he was allowed to take home on June 3, 2008. Of the experience, Seth stated his sons were treated well and that "They're glad to be going home." [12] No children were permanently removed from Jeffs.

Minnesota Land Purchase

In early 2019, it was reported that Jeffs had purchased 40 acres of land, to the east of Grand Marais, Minnesota. As of June 2020, construction on the site have halted due to wetlands compliance laws. [13] [14] [15]

South Dakota Compound

Jeffs leads the 140-acre FLDS compound located to the south-west of Pringle, South Dakota. [16] The compound has come under scrutiny for not registering vital records such as births and deaths. [17] In January 2021, a judge ordered the community to sell the compound in order to settle a lawsuit. [16]

Personal life

As of June 2020, Seth lives in Menomonie, a small town in Dunn County Wisconsin. [18]

As of March 2009, Seth had seven wives and nineteen children. During an interview in his home with Lisa Ling, when asked if he wanted any more children, Seth stated, "Every child is a precious gift sent from our Heavenly Father, and that's what plural marriage is all about." His house, which was featured on Oprah, was located in the Texas FLDS compound known as YFZ Ranch. [19]

As of May, 2008, Seth had seven children with wife Kathryn: Melanie, Matthew, Suzion, Generous, David, Samuel, and Jeremiah. [20] Attached to the October 2016 court filing on behalf of Seth, all those children (except Samuel) are named with the parents and others as claimants in the household for a SNAP programme food stamp benefits claim dated April 2016 (in addition to claims for Elisha and Jerusha Jeffs stated in the claim as born a month apart from each other in 2011 and a Melinda Jeffs born the same year as Matthew (2001) as members of the household). [21]

Seth's other home in Colorado City, Arizona is officially owned by the FLDS trust United Effort Plan. In 2013, FLDS Bishop and one-time de facto leader William E. Jessop tried to force Seth out of the home so he could move in. The home, which is surrounded by walls with mounted cameras, is on the FLDS compound. It was reported that Seth was not leaving the house as Jessop had demanded. [22]

In his book Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation Into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, author Sam Brower accused Seth of being a courier for Warren and bringing him young brides while Warren was in hiding. He continues that Seth confused "gentiles" (the FLDS term for anyone not of FLDS faith) by using his middle name Steed as his last name to avoid scrutiny. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints</span> Latter-Day Saints denomination

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a Mormon fundamentalist group whose members practice polygamy. It is variously defined as a cult, a sect or a new religious movement. The FLDS Church has been involved in various illegal activities, including child marriages, child abandonment, sexual assault and human trafficking including child sexual abuse. The sect is not connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest Latter-day Saint denomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon fundamentalism</span> Advocates of some early Mormon doctrines

Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, the first three presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by the movement's founder, Smith. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Jeffs</span> American sex offender and cult leader (born 1955)

Warren Steed Jeffs is an American cult leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault following two convictions in 2011. He is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous cult based in Arizona. The FLDS Church was founded in the early-20th century when its founders deemed the renunciation of polygamy by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be apostate. The LDS Church disavows any relation between it and the FLDS Church, although there are significant historical ties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostolic United Brethren</span> Polygamous Mormon fundamentalist church

The Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) is a Mormon fundamentalist group that practices polygamy. The AUB has had a temple in Mexico since at least the 1990s, an endowment house in Utah since the early 1980s, and several other locations of worship to accommodate their members in the US states of Wyoming, Arizona, and Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rulon Jeffs</span> Fundamentalist Mormon church leader (1909–2002)

Rulon Timpson Jeffs, known to followers as Uncle Rulon, was an American polygamist and religious leader who founded and was recognized as the 5th president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon fundamentalist organization based in Colorado City, Arizona, United States, from 1986 until his death in 2002. He was the father of later FLDS Church leader and convicted felon Warren Jeffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost boys (Mormon fundamentalism)</span> Term for young males excommunicated or pressured to leave a polygamous Mormon community

"Lost boys" is a term used for young men who have been excommunicated or pressured to leave polygamous Mormon fundamentalist groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Although sometimes officially accused of apostasy or disobedience, it is thought that they are mainly pressured to leave by older adult men to reduce competition for wives within such sects, usually when they are between the ages of 13 and 21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YFZ Ranch</span> Former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints community in Texas

The Yearning for Zion Ranch, or the YFZ Ranch, was a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property. As of 2019, the property was in the process of being sold to the Dallas-based firm ETG Properties LLC, who were already leasing it for use as a military and law enforcement training facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Creek raid</span> 1953 mass arrest in Arizona, US

The Short Creek raid was an Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the "largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history". Law enforcement arrested polygamist men and removed children from their families. Arizona governor John Howard Pyle had invited journalists to view the raid, and the resulting media coverage from multiple outlets was negative, criticizing the raid's tactics and the intrusion upon children.

Carolyn Jessop is an American author and former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community. She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children. Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.

Merril Jessop was a high-ranking bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He was briefly the de facto leader of the FLDS. Jessop was also in charge of the YFZ Ranch during the 2008 raid.

William Edson Jessop is a leader in the Mormon fundamentalist movement.

William Roy Jessop is a former leader and spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Jessop should not be confused with William E. Jessop, the person Warren Jeffs designated as his successor to the presidency of the FLDS Church.

Irene Spencer was an American author and a widow of Verlan LeBaron, brother of former prophet Joel LeBaron of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times, a fundamentalist Mormon offshoot.

Wendell Loy Nielsen was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, replacing Warren Jeffs, at that time imprisoned on charges related to sexual assaults against minors.

Lyle Jeffs is the brother of Warren Jeffs and a bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He has been referred to as his brother's "special counselor" in some church documents.

Brent W. Jeffs is an American author, advocate, and former member of the influential Jeffs family in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Rebecca Musser is an American author and activist. She was a wife of the late Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints prophet Rulon Jeffs and escaped the compound before bringing legal proceedings against the church. In the film Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs, Musser is portrayed by actress Sabina Gadecki.

Nephi Jeffs is an American Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader. He is the bishop of the Short Creek Stake, and is his brother Warren Jeffs's personal secretary.

Leroy "Roy" Barlow Jeffs was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was one of Warren Jeffs' fifty four children.

Preaching Evil: A wife on the Run with Warren Jeffs is an American documentary television miniseries on Peacock about the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, and its leader Warren S. Jeffs. The series was released on April 26, 2022, on Peacock. It is directed by Douglas Elford Argent. The series focuses on Jeff's polygamous wife, and personal scribe Naomie Jessop, originally a wife of his father Rulon Jeffs.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Jordan (21 July 2006). "Another Weird FLDS Update". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "From Polygamist Royalty To FLDS Lost Boy". NPR. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Newcomb, Alyssa (21 June 2012). "Polygamist Leader Warren Orders Only 15 Men To Father FLDS Kids". ABC News. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Hollenhorst, John (31 October 2005). "Authorities Arrest Brother of Warren Jeffs". KSL. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Jeffs, Brent W. (19 May 2009). Lost Boy. Random House. p. 220. ISBN   9780767932271.
  6. ↑ Smith, Jordan (25 November 2005). "FLDS First Family Update". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Coffman, Keith (18 November 2005). "Seth Jeffs will go on trial in January". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 Winslow, Ben (15 July 2006). "Seth Jeffs is sentenced to probation". Deseret News. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Connelly, Brian. "San Angelo Photos". Go San Angelo. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Sandberg, Lisa (20 May 2008). "Sect children not to hear leader's name, Texas CPS says". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "DNA Parental Testing" (PDF). Eldorado FLDS. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "All Texas Polygamist Sect Children Reunited With Parents". Fox News. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "KARE 11 Investigates: Construction equipment at polygamist property". kare11.com. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  14. ↑ "Polygamous sect leader Seth Jeffs ordered to stop Minnesota building". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  15. ↑ Jones, Hannah. "Grand Marais, Minnesota, watches helplessly as Mormon cult leader Seth Jeffs settles in". City Pages. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  16. 1 2 "Judge orders polygamous sect to sell South Dakota compound". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  17. ↑ McDonell-Parry, Amelia; McDonell-Parry, Amelia (2019-02-01). "Lawmakers Going After FLDS Polygamy Compound in South Dakota". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  18. ↑ "Land purchase raises concerns in Dunn Co". 3 April 2023.
  19. ↑ "Inside a Polygamist Compound". Oprah. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "Children from sect can not discuss leader Warren Jeffs". Religion News Blog. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  21. ↑ Children from sect can not discuss leader Warren Jeffs - http://fox13now.com/2016/10/21/flds-leader-likens-food-stamp-donation-to-pta-bake-sale-in-religious-freedom-arguments
  22. ↑ Dalrymple II, Jim (25 September 2013). "FLDS: William E. Jessop is trying to get home occupied by Seth Jeffs". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  23. ↑ Brower, Sam (2011). Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation Into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 277–278. ISBN   9781608192755.
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