Reader comments
Jessop says Jeffs to blame for FLDS troubles

First, I'm not a FLDS member. I'm a liberal and was abused as a child. I hate when children are exploited - this is why this women makes me sick. She is making money by taking innocent children away from their mothers. She is obviously exploiting this situation for her book sales.

Let's face it, this is being tried not in a Court but in the media. Without money-hungry people like her, these families would get a fair trial. Maybe some children would need foster care but not all.

She has a financial motivation for this church to look bad. How can she sleep at night knowing there are little children crying for their mothers, while she is enjoying all the money she is making?

Please don't tell me she is "saving" young girls from being married. If that was true, CPS could just "monitor" the families without traumatizing the young children. No, this is being done so children can be "reprogrammed" into an acceptable religion.

She should donate all the money she received since the raid to the FDLS children. To me, this women is the evil one - not the FDLS mothers.

I totally agree with Ms. Jessop in that Warren Jeffs has brought the flds people to this low point. His arbitrary dictates and disregard of laws and past precedents are responsible for him being in jail and the loss of over 400 children. He was a real control freak. He is now in a situation where he cannot control things, Of course his edicts to the flds did not apply to him. He was wearing shorts and in a red cadillac when he was arrested in Nevada. No wonder he is on a suicide watch in an Arizona jail.

Carolyn Jessup should be ashamed for what she has done to these innocent families. Children have been literally torn from their mothers arms. The media believes everything she has to say no matter how extreme.

When discussing the ban on the color red, Jessop also says that many women continued to wear red despite Warren'ts "revelation." Why then, if they think as individuals and not as one, were ALL the children removed?
One warrent was also used for the entire compound, though on a video at captiveldschildren shows a woman requesting a copy of the warrant for her house. If you look at the bishops records at the san angelo paper you can read that people have individual apartments. So, how comfortable are you with one search warrant for an entire apartment complex in the city?
Why do some look young? They don't apply make-up to look more "mature" as my own daughter would say. If you were told that you would be separated from your child unless you were underage, would you not also lie to stay? I certainly would not hesitate.
As far as child rape, even CPS states they have no evidence of such.
We need to go after individuals that commit crimes, not entire groups. What next, BYU married student housing? They all look painfully young to me, and just look at all those babies! Lock those men up!

just because she can write a book does not make it the truth.

Carolyn Jessop is a very brave woman. The people that ought "to be ashamed of themselves" are the men of the FLDS church who forced underage girls into marriage! It's about time someone took a stand against this. If there has been no wrongdoing then why won't these moms identify which children are theirs? Why are they lying to cover up their ages and by behaving this way, what example are they setting for their children? Child abuse is is child abuse and should not be protected under the guise of religion!!! Go Texas and Go Carolyn Jessop!

Was your family ever 'evicted' from one of these compounds for something they didn't do? Such as slight the leader with a derogatory phrase or gossip? That's about all it takes there, no freedom of speech. Your liberal ways aren't acceptable there, not one bit. And having your children taken away and reassigned to another family, or being reassigned to a new husband, how would you like that? Carolyn Jessop has motivation, all right. She wants to prevent others from the hell she went through for years in that 'church'.

And Thomas, wake up and see the reality here. Children were being torn from their fathers and given new ones, or their mothers and so forth, before this. There are documented cases of it happening within the FLDS over the past decade. So don't cry about the law taking children when the FLDS have done it also!

You are obviously an attorney. As you come on like you know all the evidence and know all the misdeeds as you allege. Get a grip.

Why does everybody always have to write a story about what they went through for money. Can't they just write in their own journals and leave it at that. I think it is fine the express concern and truthful information the help others, but I don't get writing a book about it.

Right or wrong, Texas is doing what Utah & Arizona ignored far too long. This sordid mess will continue to haunt these two states for their failure to prosecute polygamy and looking the other way over the years.

1. How can an ex-member become an unbiased athority on this group?

2. How come the whole group is lumped and judged as one?

The vidios on the FLDS site remind me on my own children.

Let the children go home.

I don't think the people of the FLDS are all bad, but Warren Jeffs twisted people with his power. They felt stuck, who do we put our faith in?

I believe what Mrs. Jessop is saying, it is being repeated by others who have left the group and now it is being documented by the Bishop's list at my eldorado dot net.Anyone with internet can read it. A 16 year old girl married to 46 yr old man with seven other wives.

@dlr

1. Nobody is claiming that she is unbiased. I have not seen that claim anywhere. All advisors on all subjects have bias, it's just reality.

2. good question!

Carolyn Jessop is an incredible strong woman and it's wonderful that she wrote a book about her ordeal. Just think, how many women might read this who live in abusing situations and will find the courage to escape them after having been inspired by her. She knows many of the people in the Eldorado compound first hand and IMHO , it was because of her that the children who are now residing in foster care are given the special treatment of being allowed their clothing style, way of life etc. She knows better than any social worker could guess how those women and children live.

On that same website you can read girls married to boys very near their own ages and as ONLY wives. Perhaps the girls wanted to be with many other women so as to have very little time with her "husband" as purposeful. Perhaps she actually liked that older men. How many girls fall "in love with" their teachers, bishops, and other influences? I know I certainly did. Why would we exclude these girls from those same feelings?

One Ex-flds woman on youtube discusses how she found Warren jeffs "to be cool" at times.

We must be very careful NOT to judge the many for the few. Yes, there is probably abuse in the FLDS compound. But, I am willing to bet there is abuse in my monogamous subdivision. Yes, there is likely some child abuse at the compound but so too based on stats by subdivision.

Funny how so many of you so called righteous folks see no wrong with men who are nothing more than child predators and sexual perverts.
The truth IS SHOWING the men of the Flds in Texas had many wives and the minor girls ARE FORCED to wed much older men and are having babies and that the women in the compound have been taught to obey the men. They even have the books from the compound to prove it.
This only goes to show the ones defending such acts and slandering this woman who escaped this lifestyle are nothing more than predators themselves who are upset that this wrongful lifestyle will soon be coming to an end.
Child service did the right thing and followed the law when childern are endangered you remove them ALL!
Defending these child and sexual predators who hide behind Gods will make me sick.
God in no shape or form said "wed the childern and make the women slaves unto man" that is a sex pervert lie and in the end we all know it is wrong.

The first LDS church in Tucson was just vandalized. I think it is another example of the religious persecution in Texas spilling out into other areas, and affecting the mainline LDS church as well as the FLDS.

I would like to ask Ms Jessop about religious bigotry. There have been many mainline Mormons affected by it in the past month.

I haven't found the perfect link yet to illustrate this fact, but it appears
to me that in America, the average age difference between spouses is for the
man to be, on average, about 3 years older than his wife.


So the FLDS *plural* marriages are actually FAIRLY CLOSE to the *norm* of
American "mainstream" society. 2/3rds simply take more than 1 wife, which is
their RELIGIOUS RIGHT under Holy Scripture (especially in a nation that
permits and CELEBRATES (ala Will and Grace, Brokeback Mountain, etc) SODOMY
prohibited by Holy Scripture).

Cindy and John McCain. John is 17 years older than Cindy.

Wende and James Doohan. There is a 37 year difference between Wende and James.

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn. Soon-Yi is 35 years younger.

Donald Trump and Melania Knauss. Donald is 28 years older.

Martha Raye and Mark Harris. Mark was 33 years younger than Martha.

Clint and Dina Eastwood. Dina is 25 years younger.

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Catherine is 25 years younger.

Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. Annette is 21 years younger.

Francesa Annis and Ralph Fiennes. Ralph is 19 years younger.

Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine. Robert is 18 years younger.

Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica. Jessica is 18 years younger.