Laura Chapman said she was raised in the Fundamentalist LDS Church and forced into marriage at age 18. Coming out of a cult, she said she is grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, trying to raise her children and reclaiming a lost childhood.

"I went trick or treating for the first time with my children," she said Friday.

Other presenters criticized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for what they said is its silence on some points of the doctrine of polygamy.

However, the LDS Church has repeatedly said it no longer practices polygamy and excommunicates members who do.

The polygamous Fundamentalist LDS Church and its fugitive leader, Warren Jeffs, were the topic of some discussion here. Audiotapes of Jeffs' preaching racist beliefs were played. In one, Jeffs criticized rock music.

"When you enjoy the beat, the rock music, you're enjoying the spirit of the black race," he said in his monotone voice, which one cult watcher described as "hypnotic."

Jeffs is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list with a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. He is facing criminal charges in Utah and Arizona, accusing him of forcing teenage girls into polygamous marriages with older men. Federal prosecutors have charged Jeffs with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Stephanie Spanos, a child psychiatrist from New York City, said she was interested in the discussions of polygamous cults as a societal model.

"It examines a society that is very isolated," she said. "You can actually identify all the different problems that families face when they're involved in this kind of social structure."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com