The trust was recently reformed, paving the way for eventual private property ownership. It has been a struggle to collect taxes and the court-appointed fiduciary over the trust has threatened residents with eviction over occupancy agreements and monthly fees. The fiduciary has also gone after Jeffs and others within the church for multimillion dollar judgments and has filed numerous court papers seeking to uncover records and assets.

Shields said Wall should be suing the FLDS Church, Jeffs and her ex-husband Allen Steed, not the UEP and thousands of innocent people.

"Exposing the charitable UEP Trust to liability for the unlawful acts of Warren Jeffs would come at a high cost to the men, women and children currently living in homes on trust land who have never endorsed child rape or any other unlawful acts alleged by plaintiff," he wrote.

Wall's attorney, Greg Hoole, said the lawsuit is not about making anybody rich — but holding people accountable.

"Elissa Wall has made it very clear she does not intend to keep any of the money that will likely be awarded to her," he said. "It's essentially about accountability and the trust needs to step up and be held accountable for its role in the abuses that have been perpetuated against children over the past decades in this community."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com