Leader and Prophet Rulon T. Jeffs died in 2002 leaving his son, Warren Jeffs as the leader of this organization. (Rulon Jeffs--married 22 women, fathered more than 60 children his son is quickly coming up the ranks as well.) The headquarters are in Hildale, Utah, but the group has a strong presence in the border Colorado City, Arizona as well. Those towns, once known as Short Creek, were the site of the last effort to prosecute polygamists in 1953. Public sentiment turned against authorities after newsreels showed children being taken from their mothers and fathers being thrown in jail. Welfare fraud, tax fraud, incest, statutory rape, physical, emotional and psychological abuse are all elements interwoven in this community, hidden behind a veil of secrecy, isolation, and deprivation. Roughly 20,000 men, women and children participating this illegal lifestyle, 33% are receiving state and federal aid. They also lay claims to 0% unemployment in the 2000 census.
