The town of Mojave County, 400 miles north of Kingman, has been home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over a century.
Also known as the FLS, the church is an offshoot of the Mormon Church founded after Mormon leaders outlawed the practice of traditional plural marriage. The Short Creek community, which includes the city of Colorado and Hildale Township, Utah, has become a gathering place for polygamous Mormons.
Today, the FLS is one of the only religious groups in the United States that still practices plural marriage.
Until recently, Short Creek remained a community that was culturally and geographically isolated from the rest of Arizona. And twenty years ago, that isolation may have fueled the abuses inflicted on the city of Colorado through church leaders under Warren Jeffs.
Mr. Jeffs (whom accused child sex trafficker Samuel Bateman calls “Uncle Warren”) became a church leader in 2002 after the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs. Under Jeffs’ leadership, all homes and parcels within the City of Colorado community are now managed through the town’s Unified Effort Planning Trust.
As church leader, Jeffs had the power to excommunicate church members and reassign wives, children, and homes to other men. In 2004, Mr. Jeffs reportedly used his powers to expel then-mayor Dan Barlow and 20 others from the church.
Under Jeffs’ leadership, local schools were closed and speech within the community was restricted. Jeffs was eventually accused of facilitating the marriage of an underage girl to an adult man and of facilitating sexual abuse.
Jeffs, the husband of 78 wives, was eventually charged in Mojave County with sexual assault on a minor and conspiracy to commit a sexual misconduct with a minor in 2005. Jeffs was also indicted on similar charges in Utah, Nevada, and Texas. He was convicted of two counts of child sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison.
Today, the City of Colorado and the Short Creek community are trying to overcome one of the darkest chapters in Mojave County history. The United Effort Plan Trust, once a tool Jeffs used to promote abuse allegations, is now overseen by a seven-member board of trustees.
The trust now provides education, vocational training, and economic development efforts to the community. As well as providing food, clothing, and medical needs for the residents of Short Creek.
