From 'nerd' to FLDS chief

After years of teaching, Jeffs eventually became principal of the Alta Academy.

Yearbooks and photographs from the Alta Academy obtained by the Deseret Morning News show Jeffs playing with the students, praying with teachers and leading the chorus.

A 1993 videotape shows Jeffs as the master of ceremonies for children's programs performed for classmates and their polygamist parents. The tape was given to the Deseret Morning News by a source who still has family members within the FLDS Church.

"I want you young ones to be sure to be quiet. Don't talk out. Listen," he tells a room full of excited young children. "We always begin programs with prayer. Even in our fun, we remember Heavenly Father. That's what we want you to have today."

During the program, Jeffs pops out in a Groucho Marx nose and glasses, leading the children in songs.

In a sort-of school newspaper called the "Student Star," mimeographed on blue ink on low quality paper, Principal Jeffs issued admonitions to his students telling them to love God and remain faithful. Speaking of FLDS leader Leroy S. Johnson, he urged the children to "stand faithful and true in support."

"Above all other men on earth, follow this Prophet," Jeffs wrote. "Trust in this man, not because he is a man, but because God trusts him. Love and obey this man perfectly, not because he is a man, but because of the Heavenly Authority and Keys that he alone is entrusted with."

According to a lawsuit filed against him, Warren Jeffs was doing "God's work" when he sexually abused his 5-year-old nephew at the Alta Academy in the 1980s. Brent Jeffs claims in the lawsuit that he was pulled out of classes, taken to a nearby bathroom and then raped repeatedly by Warren Jeffs and his brothers.

Brent Jeffs claims in his lawsuit he was threatened with "eternal damnation" if he were to ever tell of what happened. At age 21, he came forward, after his brother Clayne committed suicide. Jeffs claims his brother and other children at the Alta Academy were sexually abused by "Uncle Warren." The lawsuit is still pending.

Ascending Power

In 1998, FLDS leader Rulon Jeffs reportedly received revelation that the 2002 Winter Olympics would usher in the destruction of Salt Lake City. He ordered his followers to leave the Salt Lake Valley and go to Hildale and Colorado City, the base of the FLDS Church's operations.

The Alta Academy closed, but Warren Jeffs became his father's right hand man in the polygamous border towns. He made decisions for his father when Rulon Jeffs became incapacitated by a series of strokes.