Warren Jeffs

Warren Jeffs

Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955) is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church). In 2011, Jeffs was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault.

Jeffs gained international notoriety in May 2006 when he was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on Utah state charges related to his alleged arrangement of illegal marriages between his adult male followers and underage girls. He was arrested in August 2006 in Nevada, and agreed to be taken to Utah for trial. In May and July 2007 the State of Arizona charged him with eight additional counts, including sexual conduct with minors and incest, in two separate cases.

His Utah trial, which began in early September 2007 in St. George, Utah, lasted less than a month, and on September 25 he was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice. On November 20, 2007 he was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years to life and began serving his sentence at the Utah State Prison. However, the conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court on July 27, 2010 because of incorrect jury instructions.

He was extradited to Texas, where he was found guilty of sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of children in connection with a raid of an FLDS owned and occupied West Texas ranch in 2008. After the jury had deliberated for less than 30 minutes, 55-year-old Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years and a $10,000 fine, to be served consecutively, for sexual assault of both 12 and 15-year-old girls.