HILDALE, Utah (AP) — The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints settled in a remote area along the Arizona-Utah border in the 1930s after the polygamist sect broke away from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the mainstream Mormon church that renounced plural marriage in 1890.
The FLDS controlled the municipal governments and shared police force in neighboring Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, for decades. But the sect’s leader and prophet, Warren Jeffs, was convicted in 2011 of sexually assaulting two girls. And federal prosecutors accused the towns of denying basic services such as water hookups and police protection to nonbelievers, leading to a 2017 order placing the towns under court supervision.
With the sect’s leader in prison and stripped of its control over the towns, many members have left the FLDS or moved away. Last summer, the court lifted its supervision nearly two years earlier than expected, finding that the communities had made significant progress.
Here’s a look at the history:
July 26, 1953
Authorities raid Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, which were known then as the Short Creek community. Dozens of men and women are jailed, and their children are put in foster care. It turns into a public relations disaster for Arizona authorities after news photos of children being torn from their mothers’ arms stir up public sympathy, and officials turn a blind eye to polygamy in the towns for decades.
November 2002
Jeffs emerges as the sect’s new leader, taking over for his late father.
June 2005
With Utah and Arizona prosecutors banding together to crack down on the alleged abuse of women and girls in the towns, Jeffs is charged in Arizona with allegedly marrying off a teenage girl to a 28-year-old follower who was already married. Authorities aren’t able to locate Jeffs, and the charges are dismissed in 2010.
Aug. 28, 2006
While a fugitive, Jeffs is arrested during a Las Vegas traffic stop on charges of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men in Arizona and Utah. Inside the vehicle, authorities find three wigs, 15 cellphones, $54,000 in cash and $10,000 in gift cards.
Sept. 25, 2007
Jeffs is convicted in Utah of being an accomplice to rape for forcing a 14-year-old to marry her 19-year-old cousin, though the Utah Supreme Court would overturn the conviction in 2010 and prosecutors would ultimately dismiss the case, since Jeffs had since been imprisoned in Texas.
April 2008
Authorities conduct a massive raid on the sect’s remote Texas ranch, collecting evidence that would be used to convict Jeffs. The raid was prompted by a call to a family violence shelter from someone claiming to be a 16-year-old girl who had been beaten and raped by her 50-year-old husband. The call was a hoax, but investigators saw pregnant underage girls during the raid and were told about polygamist marriages, leading to charges against Jeffs and other men.
Aug. 9, 2011
Jeffs is convicted in Texas of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, and sentenced to life in prison. The Texas case marks the only successful prosecution of Jeffs.
March 7, 2016
The Justice Department wins a religious discrimination verdict against Colorado City and Hildale for denying nonbelievers building permits, water hookups and police protection.
April 2017
A court places the towns under supervision so that their municipal governments can be overhauled to remedy the constitutional violations.
July 2, 2025
Colorado City and Hildale are released from court supervision nearly two years earlier than expected.
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