FROM THE VAULT - Warren Jeffs & the FLDS: Cult Power, Mormon Polygamy, and Child Abuse (Part 1)
RedHanded
RedHanded
4.5 • 19.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 April 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With Netflix's new documentary on the modern fundamentalist Mormon church coming out today – we thought it was the perfect time to revisit our episode on Warren Jeffs's FLDS, to give some much-needed context...
According to Warren Jeffs’ thousands of followers, he was the leader of a secretive but devoted religion – their prophet, and the representative of God on Earth. But according to US law, he was a dangerous, totalitarian, child-molesting horror with over 80 wives – some married off as young as 12. Still, according to the church, Earthly laws are no match for the voice of God.
In this episode, we explore the story behind the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: how the visions of a charismatic, seventeen-year-old farmhand called Joseph Smith grew to become a major world religion; how plural marriage caused a major rift in the church; and how its teachings were warped into a systematic cult of child abuse, underage sex, and absolute power.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Anna. |
| 0:10.0 | And welcome to Red-Handed, where this week we've got my absolute favourite topic. |
| 0:17.2 | Moments. |
| 0:17.9 | It is your favourite. |
| 0:18.9 | I am getting, after having gone through the script for this, I'm getting pretty sick of them. |
| 0:23.6 | But I have to get through it now. |
| 0:25.1 | We saw two in the wild yesterday. |
| 0:26.7 | Oh, you did? You're right. Yeah, they're everywhere. |
| 0:29.5 | They are. |
| 0:30.0 | They're surrounding me. It's like they know that we're going to do this two-partum. |
| 0:33.7 | And they're on to us. |
| 0:36.3 | When Mary Ann Jessop turned 12, |
| 0:39.5 | her father decided that she was ready for marriage. |
| 0:43.8 | But who she married wasn't up to her, |
| 0:46.5 | wasn't even up to her dad. |
| 0:48.6 | The only person who could decide was the Jessup's prophet, |
| 0:53.4 | a man who they believed had a direct line to God. |
| 0:58.2 | The prophet conducted one of what he called his heavenly sessions. |
| 1:03.7 | He jerked around wildly like he was in a trance and cried out messages from his God to be |
| 1:09.6 | transcribed. |
| 1:12.0 | And this time, it was God's will that the 51-year-old prophet himself should marry the 12-year-old Mary-Anne. |
| 1:22.4 | How convenient. |
... |
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