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	Timeline of Events Affecting FLDS Sect Arizona Republic July 31, 2011 http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/31/20110731flds-church-timeline-jeffs.html Key events affecting Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, since attorneys general in the two states began investigating accusations of child sexual assault, fraud, tax evasion, civil-rights violations and other alleged crimes in 2002 by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: 2003: Warren Jeffs, the church prophet, delivers a sermon in Colorado City claiming God told him there is no such thing as underage marriage and that evil government will attempt to intervene as young girls are wed to older men. The FLDS Church buys land in Schleicher County, Texas, and begins relocating members to Yearning for Zion Ranch. 2004: Jeffs excommunicates about 20 FLDS men, stripping them of wives and homes. 2005: Jeffs is among at least 10 FLDS men indicted in Arizona and Utah. He is charged with sexual misconduct with a minor and rape as an accomplice after orchestrating the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her adult cousin. Several men are convicted. Jeffs flees and is placed on the FBI's most-wanted list. - In connection with lawsuits over church-controlled properties, a Utah court appoints a fiduciary to oversee the United Effort Plan, a $110 million trust that owns most of the land, homes and businesses in Colorado City-Hildale. - Texas prosecutors say Jeffs marries two 12-year-old girls at the Texas ranch. 2006: Jeffs is captured in Las Vegas. 2007: Jeffs is convicted in Utah and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He renounces himself as a fraudulent prophet. According to jail recordings, he says he committed immoral acts with a sister and daughter and is "one of the most wicked men on the face of the earth since the days of Adam." He later retracts those statements. 2008: Jeffs is moved to a jail in Kingman, where he must be force-fed because of fasting. - Texas authorities raid the Yearning for Zion Ranch. FLDS children are temporarily removed from homes. A dozen FLDS men, including Jeffs, are charged with crimes related to underage marriages. They each could face a 99-year prison sentence if convicted. - Some FLDS members start returning to Colorado City, and church leaders begin fighting to regain control of the United Effort Plan trust. The legal battle continues today. 2010: Jeffs' Utah conviction is overturned by the state Supreme Court because of faulty jury instructions, and prosecutors decline to seek a second trial. - Mohave County prosecutors dismiss the Arizona charges against Jeffs, who is extradited to Texas. 2011: Jeffs, who resigned as president of the FLDS corporate arm after his Utah conviction, retakes that position. An estimated 30 men are purged from the church. Some of them start a rival sect in Colorado City. - Jeffs is housed in a Texas jail. His trial is under way on charges of having sex with two underage girls who were among his approximately 80 "celestial" wives. A separate bigamy trial is planned for October.
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