In the early 20th century, the Mormon Church took a stand against polygamy, or the practice of having multiple wives. Several members upset over this action broke away from the church and formed their own Fundamentalist sect. The sect began in Short Creek, Arizona, and eventually spread to the small sister cities of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Eldorado, Texas is believed to be the current headquarters of the FLDS movement.
Those in the FLDS believe in the practice of polygamy as a way to reach heaven. The more wives a man has, and the more children he fathers, the more powerful he becomes. The “sister wives” are expected to be in complete submission to their husband at all times, and to focus their time on taking care of the family.
In addition, the FLDS church believes in placement marriage, where a child from a very young age can be promised to a man of an older age, and expected to marry when she becomes old enough to do so. These “spiritual” marriages often occur between much older men and children as young as 13 or 14.
Most other doctrines of the church are in line with the Mormon church, with the only exceptions being the strictness of the FLDS as opposed to that of the arguably strict Mormon church. These strict guidelines include manner of dress, attitude toward others, and very limited contact with the outside world.
The FLDS became front-page news in 2006 when president and self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. In August of 2006 he was captured, and was named as an accomplice to rape. He was convicted by a jury, and soon after that, the prophet and presidency was handed over to new leaders. The current de facto leader of the FLDS is believed to be Merrill Jessop.
Problems continued in 2008, when Child Protective Services raided the compound, removing several children from their homes. In a case that dragged on for quite some time, the CPS finally had to return the children to the FLDS, which the sect considered a massive victory.