Warren Jeffs' Nephew: 'I Was Brainwashed'
Nephews of the polygamist leader speak to ABC News after leaving the polygamist community.
We are looking inside the secretive and abusive polygamist control by Warren Jeffs. He is behind bars now but two of his nephews are speaking out about how he escaped the church. ABC Cecilia Vega has the story.
We are entering the no tourist community ruled by Warren Jeffs even though we are on a public road, the message is clear: we are not welcome here. So did they do that because of us? Yeah. Our every move watched. See the top of that flight pole. That’s a camera. And someone is watching that camera right now? Yes. We are watching them watching us.
Brothers Matt and Zack are two of Jeffs’s many nephews, flesh in blood of the convicted polygamists and now he is worst enemy.
He is just in God's name to brain wash people. You say brain wash. Were you thinking these people that you grew up with were brain-washed. Yes, I was brain washed. But I was terrified of leaving the community.
They broke free from this FLDs community where the beliefs is men with more wives are more likely to go to heaven. But I has 9 wives and around 62 kids. Now they are returning for the first time. You are all nervous about this. The family is just looking at us differently in the eyes like we are the almost weak people on the earth.
They are a part of group of formally faithful on a mission to help others who may want to get out too. Is Warren Jeffs a profit? No. what is he? He is a psycho pass lives in prison for life. It is a real life drama line on the TLC show breaking the faith.
Our overheard the girls in church talking about how I want to leave the church. I want to leave too but I was afraid to say anything.
Why does a girl who is 20 - 21 years old just get up and go?
They don’t know where to go. Only thing they known is their bedroom, the kitchen and the laundry room and that's it. That is all they know.
They say Warren Jeffs serving life in prison for sexually assaulting young girls still cause the shot from behind bars.
There's no marriages. Or really? Yeah, Coz he is the only one can do, do the marriages. They cannot have kids generally either. He controls that, yeah, has anybody actually has a child since he left? No, not that I know.
For Good Morning America, Cecilia Vega, ABC News held in Utah.
Well, that is fascinating and chilling staff.