Rachel Jeffs, Daughter of Warren Jeffs, Describes Abuse She Endured in FLDS Church

By Emily Havens
The Spectrum
November 10, 2017

http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2017/11/10/rachel-jeffs-daughter-warren-jeffs-describes-abuse-she-endured-flds-church/849068001/

Rachel Jeffs, daughter of Warren Jeffs, describes the abuse she endured from her father, the FLDS prophet at the time, starting when she was 8 years old. Her story will be aired on NBC's "Dateline" on Nov. 10 at 9 p.m.

For the first time, Rachel Jeffs appeared on national television to discuss what her life was like as the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS prophet.

Rachel Jeffs' story will be shared on NBC's "Dateline" on Friday night. On Friday morning, Rachel Jeffs appeared on "Megyn Kelly TODAY" to answer questions about life inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, what it was like being a sister wife, and the abuse she endured from her own father when she was a child.

During the interview, Rachel Jeffs described how her father first started abusing her when she was 8 years old by exposing his naked body to her.

Soon after it began, Rachel Jeffs said Warren Jeffs started to sexually assault her physically, and that it happened on more occasions than she could count or even remember.

"I just felt terrible," Rachel Jeffs said on the talk show. "I don't know why he was doing it."

Members of the Creekers Foundation in Hildale tour the former home of former FLDS leader Warren Jeffs Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (Photo: Chris Caldwell / The Spectrum & Daily News)

In addition, Rachel Jeffs said her father showed her pornography.

When she was 16 years old, Rachel Jeffs said she confronted him in a hand-written letter. To her surprise, she said, he stopped abusing her.

Warren Jeffs approached Rachel Jeffs two years later and told her she was going to get married to a man she had never previously met in an arranged-marriage set up, a routine practice in the FLDS church.

On the talk show, Rachel Jeffs said that while she was settling into life as a sister wife, her father was being investigated for child sexual abuse.

Warren Jeffs appeared on the FBI's Most Wanted List in 2006 for arranging marriages between older men and underage girls in the church. He was later charged with sexual conduct with minors.

Now 61 years old, Warren Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for the crimes.

Warren Jeffs stands flanked by two Las Vegas Police officers at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas in this Spectrum Media file photo. (Photo: The Spectrum & Daily News file photo)

More details of Rachel Jeffs' story will be shared in a one-hour "Dateline" episode, "The Prophet's Daughter," on Friday at 9 p.m. She will discuss her escape to freedom in addition to her life inside the FLDS church.

Her memoir, "Breaking Free," will be released on Nov. 14.