Abuse workshop leader in Layton says children in polygamist sects trapped in ‘no-win’ situation

LAYTON — The polygamy culture is never going be eradicated from the U.S., one presenter at a child abuse conference said Tuesday.

“There will always be polygamy in the United States,” said Shannon Price, director of Diversity Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps those who have left the polygamy culture become successful in mainstream society.

Price, along with Brent Jeffs, author of “Lost Boys” and nephew of Warren Jeffs, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints, agreed to be interviewed between workshops Tuesday at the 22nd Annual Joining Forces Child Abuse Conference.

The three-day conference at the Davis Conference Center, 1651 N. 700 West, ends today.

Workshops today include domestic violence and how it relates to homicide; kids and cyber manipulation; child abuse; and homelessness. Workshops begin at 8 a.m. and end at noon. They are open to the public and cost $20.

Carolyn Jessop, a former polygamist wife and author of the book, “Escape,” was another presenter for the polygamy workshops Tuesday, but because she is on a witness list for the current trial against Raymond Merrill Jessop in Texas, media was not allowed in the workshops.

Not all polygamist groups are the same, Jeffs and Price said. Social workers, law enforcement, educators and health professionals attended their workshops.

“The groups are as different as Protestants are to Catholics,” Price said. “The only commonality is polygamy.”

There are a number of polygamist groups in Utah, including in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties, Price said. A polygamist group does not necessarily have a negative impact on a community.

“They don’t want to stick out,” Jeffs said. “They want to exist within their wall of their church.”

Jeffs, who is 26, said he left the FLDS when he was 15, along with his father and two of his father’s three wives, one of them being his mother.

Jeffs said it is important for professionals to know how to talk to children who are in polygamist groups so they feel safe.

“If they feel safe, they’ll talk; otherwise, they’ll keep their mouths shut.”

Children are taught at a young age to keep secrets and not to talk to anyone outside of their community.

“They don’t let outsiders join the church anymore,” Jeffs said.

Keeping children isolated from the outside world lends to secrets and allows the men in the group to become more powerful, both said.

Price said it becomes a “no-win” situation because the children know if they ask for help, it reflects negatively on their parents and the community. Also, the children have no support system if they choose to leave the group, unlike other cults.

When children leave a cult, they are generally going back to a family life they had before, she said. But when children leave polygamy, they are leaving the life they know.