What Happened To Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs' 60 Children?

Warren Jeffs runs one of the largest polygamist communities in America, and it includes his family of at least 60 children, according to CNN. The 62-year-old is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) church. Polygamy and large families are common among the remote and religious sect, with sister-wives and communal living being the norm. In fact, Jeffs is believed to have approximately 78 wives. 

But it's not one big, happy family. Jeffs is currently serving a sentence of life plus 20 years after being convicted in 2011 of sexually assaulting his “child brides." Oxygen investigates the elusive life and legacy of Warren Jeffs in "Deadly Power."

With their father behind bars, where are Warren Jeffs' children today?

Since his conviction, some of the children have come forward to the media and programs like "Prophet of Evil." A few of them have revealed allegations of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of their father. In September 2015, Lisa Ling and CNN spoke with Roy and Becky Jeffs, who had recently left the FLDS church. According to Ling, the siblings wanted the world — especially those still inside of the religion — to know that Jeffs is "far" from a perfect prophet.

Roy said that Jeffs sexually abused him at a young age.

"One of my earliest memories is of him sexually abusing me," he said. "I was about 4 or 5 years old." 

Becky believed that her father could have molested as many as 10 or 20 kids.

"I hope it's not more than that," she said. 

Since leaving the insular world of the FLDS, the children were beginning to assimilate into modern society. 

"I had my first glass of wine last week," laughed Roy. "I learned how to swim yesterday. [...] We were taught not to. We were taught that the Devil has control over the waters."

Rachel Jeffs gave her first live television interview with "Megyn Kelly Today" in November 2017. She revealed details about her closed-society upbringing, including the fact that she was home-schooled in "basic subjects" until eighth grade. Jeffs was the principal, and the "church teachings were paramount."

She said that her father sexually abused her “way more times than I can count," beginning when she was 8 years old. Even back then, Rachel was shocked by her father's actions.

"It was so against his teachings. [...] I didn't even know what to think. I just felt terrible," said Jeffs.

She confided the abuse to her mother, who apparently confronted Jeffs, but Rachel said it continued.

Following his incarceration, Rachel said that Jeffs began declaring harsher punishments on his followers, including controlling their clothes and food and banishing those out of the community for sin. Rachel was a pariah for months after Jeffs accused her of having sex with her own husband while pregnant.

"He would decide that someone was guilty of a sin," Rachel explained, adding that she never had intercourse while pregnant. "I was very angry. [...] I felt he was punishing me for what he did to me. [...] I wouldn't let myself go there."

Rachel penned a memoir of her experiences called "Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs" in November 2017. She also manages a blog about her life and allows readers to ask her questions. She gives glimpses into what it was like living inside a cult.

"When a person is born into a cult, that is the only way of life they know. The world seems foreign and as outlandish as the cult seems to the general population," she wrote. 

To learn more about Warren Jeffs' children and family, watch "Deadly Power" on Oxygen.

[Photo: Getty Images]