Jeffs Case 'Jane Doe' Speaks Out

Sept. 26, 2007 — -- Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of a splinter Mormon group, stood still and looked stoic as Tuesday's guilty verdict against him was read.

A Utah jury found Jeffs guilty of being an accomplice to rape for arranging a marriage between then 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin Alan Steed. Jeffs could face life in prison.

Jeffs, 51, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one of several Mormon-based groups that still practice polygamy.

After the verdict, the victim, Elissa Wall, spoke to the media. During the trial, she was called Jane Doe IV, as most courts do not allow sex crime victims' names to be used.

Now Wall, 21 and remarried, is asking that her name be publicized to give courage to other girls trapped in similar ordeals.

She also had a message for her mother and some of her sisters, who still belong to Jeffs' group.

"When I was young my mother taught me that evil flourishes when good men do nothing," Wall said. "This has not been easy for us. But I have followed my heart and I have spoken the truth.

"Mother, I love you and my sisters unconditionally. I will go to the ends of the Earth for you. I understand and respect your convictions, but I will not give up on you. You do not have to surrender your rights or spiritual sovereignty. I know how hard it is but please stand up and fight -- fight for your voice and power of choice. I will continue to fight for you. There's a saying by Emily Dickinson that says, 'Opinion is a flitting thing, but truth outlasts the sun.'"

Wall testified that Jeffs used his power as a religious leader to force her into a marriage in which he knew sex would be expected.

Newly released pictures show the couple and the bed they slept in on their wedding night, decorated with cookies provided by her family.

"I just locked myself in the bathroom," Wall told the jury during her testimony. "I crumpled on the floor. I was so overwhelmed, and I just started to sob. I could not believe I just got married."

End of Polygamy?

The defense tried to argue that this was a case of religious persecution -- that Jeffs was really on trial for his beliefs, which include polygamy, an enormously controversial practice that was outlawed by the mainstream Mormon church in 1890.

What does the verdict mean to the estimated 10,000 people who live in isolated polygamous communities, from Jeffs' group and from others along the Utah-Arizona border?

Sam Brower, a private investigator who has worked with law enforcement on the Jeffs case, said he hopes that with the prophet in prison, the church will stop abusing children, but he highly doubts this means the end of polygamy.

"For them not to love the prophet, for them not to love Warren Jeffs is their ticket straight to hell," Brower said.

Generally in the past polygamy has been tolerated by police because it would be impossible to prosecute all of who practice it.

Law enforcement officials in Utah, however, say that Tuesday's guilty verdict against Jeffs is just the beginning of a legal battle against abuses in polygamist communities.