Ruby Jessop | |
---|---|
Born | May 3, 1986 |
Known for | 2013 escape from FLDS |
Relatives | Flora Jessop Carolyn Jessop John Horne Blackmore Winston Blackmore |
Ruby Jessop (born May 3, 1986) is an American former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and child bride known for her family connections, her 2013 escape from an FLDS-controlled polygamous community, and the criminal probe prompted by her escape. [1]
Ruby is the sister of author and ex-FLDS member Flora Jessop. [2] In Flora's book, Church of Lies, she recounts how, as a fourteen-year-old, Ruby called her asking to help her escape after learning that she was to be married off to her second cousin and step-brother, Haven Barlow. [3] [4] Flora writes that while the authorities were contacted, they were unable to locate Ruby as she was being moved from place to place to avoid contact with Flora. [2] [3]
FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs officiated at the wedding of 14-year-old Ruby and Barlow, who was then in his mid-20s. [4] [5] When the two were married, this made Barlow her brother-in-law, [6] second cousin, step-brother and husband. [2] [3] The intermarrying of Fundamentalist Mormon members is very common, as families have many members and only people inside the faith are deemed marriageable. [7] [8] This can result in inbreeding and can cause genetic defects. [9]
After Ruby's escape, a press conference was held by Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne with Ruby and her sister Flora to announce not only the escape, but a probe into the alleged FLDS practice of holding women against their will and an investigation of the police force in Colorado City. [3]
Ruby has appeared on Katie Couric , [5] Oprah , [10] Anderson Cooper: 360° , [11] Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey , [12] and appears in Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith . [13]
Ruby is cousin-by-marriage of Carolyn Jessop, author of the New York Times Best Seller Escape and ex-FLDS member. [14] She is a relative of Winston Blackmore, the leader of a Canadian polygamous group, and also his uncle John Horne Blackmore, first leader of what became the Social Credit Party of Canada. [15]
Colorado City is a town in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, and is located in a region known as the Arizona Strip. The population was 2,478 at the 2020 census. At least three Mormon fundamentalist sects are said to have been based there. A majority of residents and many local officials belong to the most prominent of these sects, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, whose corporation also owned much of the land within and around the town until state intervention in the 2000s.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a religious sect of the fundamentalist Mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy. It is variously defined as a cult, a sect, or a new religious movement.
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.
Warren Steed Jeffs is an American religious-cult leader and felon, convicted of several sex crimes and two assisted sex crimes involving children. He is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous cult. In 2011, he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is serving a life sentence.
Bountiful is a settlement in the Creston Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, near Cranbrook and Creston. The closest community is Lister, British Columbia.
Flora Jessop is an American social activist, author, and advocate for abused children.
"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.
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.
Leroy Sunderland Johnson, known as Uncle Roy, was a leader of the Mormon fundamentalist group in Short Creek, which later evolved into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, from the mid-1950s until his death.
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.
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.
Winston Blackmore is the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint religious group in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. He is described as "Canada's best-known avowed polygamist". He has 150 children with his 27 "spiritual" wives, some of whom he has admitted were underage.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs is an autobiography by American author Elissa Wall detailing her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and subsequent later life outside of the church. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God is a Mormon fundamentalist church in the Latter Day Saint movement. The sect was founded by Frank Naylor and Ivan Nielsen, who split from the Centennial Park group, another fundamentalist church over issues with another prominent polygamous family. The church is estimated to have 200–300 members, most of whom reside in the Salt Lake Valley. The group is also known as the Neilsen Naylor Group or the Third Ward.
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.
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.
The Church of Jesus Christ Inc. is a Mormon fundamentalist denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, and is also known as the Blackmore Group. There are approximately 700 members of this group.