Polygamist Lawsuit

WOAL.com/July 30, 2004

A former member of a polygamous sect has filed a lawsuit accusing three of his uncles of sexually abusing him when he was a child.

One of the defendants is the head of the sect that has been developing a retreat on a 1,300-acre site near the town of El Dorado, north of San Antonio.

The lawsuit by 21-year-old Brent Jeffs of Salt Lake County, Utah, says the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man.

The lawsuit was filed in Third District Court in Salt Lake City. It names Warren Jeffs and his brothers Blaine Jeffs and Leslie Jeffs as defendants.

Warren Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

An attorney for the sect, Ron Parker, says the church and Jeffs deny the allegations. He says they believe the lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort by church enemies to defame it and its institutions.