Colorado City is a known Arizona town controlled by Warren Jeffs’ polygamous sect where young girls are kept against their will in harems, dominated by older men. Over 1,000 young men have been expelled from Colorado City so that older men won’t have competition for the young girls.
The Arizona Attorney General recognized this as one of the largest injustices in the state of Arizona and organized a task force of federal, state and local law enforcement officials to seriously deal with the abuses in Colorado City. The task force reported that the first priority was to get objective law enforcement into Colorado City because the local police, called marshals, were under the control of the dominant church and were terrorizing the people who objected to the oppression being carried out.
The Attorney General’s office responded by preparing a bill for the Legislature, H2648, that would have replaced the local police with the Mohave County Sheriff. The bill passed the Senate 30-0, but narrowly failed in the House. Last year, it passed the House overwhelmingly but was blocked in the Senate.
The Attorney General transferred $420,000 to the Mohave County Sheriff so the Sheriff could station a deputy to patrol Colorado City.
Because of the added patrols, Ruby Jessop, a 26-year-old Colorado City woman, was able to escape. Jessop was compelled into marrying her brother-in-law at the age of 14 by FLDS leader, Warren Jeffs, and held against her will for more than 10 years. The Mohave Sheriff deputies were instrumental in making sure that Ruby and her six young children could safely escape the town.
This is just one example of how the money for the added patrols is making a huge difference.