In August, 2011, a Texas jury convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs of child sexual assault in a case stemming from two young followers he took as brides in what his church calls “spiritual marriages.” Jeffs has appealed his conviction wit…

In his appeal, Abram Harker Jeffs claimed that the state had insufficient evidence to prove that a sexual relationship had occurred between him and his wife, whom he married when she was 14 years old. He was one of 12 men indicted after a 2008 law en…

Cult leader Bert Potter dies; a look at how Jim Jones manipulated politicians in San Francisco; and Kate Bornstein is no longer afraid to speak out about Scientology. Also in this religion news briefing: the rise of paid, online worship in India; plu…

A Utah Attorney has a series of criminal investigations under way into members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect led by jailed cult leader Warren Jeffs.Authorities in Texas have begun sharing some o…

State Attorney General Tom Horne had championed the bill, saying Colorado City officers who are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints flout the law and are simply replaced by other followers of imprisoned FLDS leade…

Cult leader Warren Jeffs has filed an appeal for his release. The appeal is in the form of three ‘revelations from Jesus Christ.’ The revelations threatens God’s “full whirlwind judgements” if he and other imprisoned leaders of the polygamous FLDS se…

A new set of aerial photos shows a couple of new buildings at the amphitheater under construction at the FLDS’ Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas. There is speculation that the amphitheater will serve as a baptismal site.

An exiled former member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was granted increased visitation rights with his estranged children, including overnight custody, Friday during a 5th District Court hearing.

A Texas appeals court has upheld the conviction of a member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who entered into a spiritual marriage with a 15-year-old girl in 2004 at the sect’s Yearning For Zion Ranch. Raym…

Trying to keep up the appearance that he is a ‘prophet from God,’ Warren Jeffs has issued another ‘revelation’ regarding impending dissasters. The cult leader also has had his prison phone privileges restored.

In the four years since Texas authorities raided a ranch belonging to the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) state prosecutors have spent more than $4.5 million racking up swift convictions against him and 10 …

Last week a special prosecutor was given the go-ahead to consider polygamy crimes in Bountiful, the Canadian branch of the polygamous FLDS sect. Now Canadian police have renewed their investigation into allegations that dozens of teen brides were spi…

A jury in Midland, Texas, has sentenced Wendell Loy Nielsen, a former president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and erstwhile close associate of its imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, to the maximum 10 years and $10,000 …

Illegal marriage abetting, fugitive hiding, and breaking up families — the allegations rained down heavily in the courtroom against the former leader of a polygamist sect. Last Wednesday Wendell Loy Nielsen was found guilty on three counts of felon…

A Texas judge denied the appeal of fundamentalist sect leader Warren Jeffs on Thursday, the same day a jury considered testimony to determine how to sentence a key figure in his church after his own bigamy conviction. Instead of the necessary paperwo…

A jury today declared Wendell Loy Nielsen, the 71-year-old former president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, guilty on the three counts of felony bigamy brought against him by the state of Texas. Last October Nielsen…

Former FLDS president Wendell Loy Nielsen is on trial on three counts of third-degree bigamy, punishable by two to 10 years in prison. According to documents from the state, Nielsen allegedly married 34 women in addition to his legal wife. Among thos…

A special prosecutor looking into potential crimes linked to the community of Bountiful, British Columbia, now has the mandate to weigh polygamy charges after the Canadian province decided a recent court ruling is strong enough to make them stick. T…

The former leader of a breakaway Mormon sect charged with being married to more than one woman at the same time went on trial in Texas on Wednesday, putting a spotlight on the rarely prosecuted crime of bigamy. A five-woman, seven-man jury was seated …

A Utah bill that would have disbanded a police department in a town populated by followers of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs was short-lived. Though aimed at the marshal’s office that serves the combined border community of Colorado City, Ariz….