Charlene Jeffs: The Ex-Wife of a Polygamous Church Leader Who Escaped the FLDS

Charlene Jeffs is a woman who has experienced the dark side of polygamy and religious fundamentalism. She was the first and most senior wife of Lyle Jeffs, the brother of Warren Jeffs, the notorious leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). The FLDS is a sect that broke away from the mainstream Mormon church and practices polygamy, child marriage, and strict obedience to the prophet. Charlene Jeffs was featured in a Netflix docuseries called Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, where she revealed the shocking details of her life inside the FLDS and how she managed to escape.

How Charlene Jeffs Became a Wife of Lyle Jeffs

Charlene Jeffs married Lyle Jeffs in 1983, when she was 18 years old. She became the first of his nine wives and gave birth to 10 children. She was also the daughter-in-law of Rulon Jeffs, the original president of the FLDS, who died in 2002. After his death, Warren Jeffs took over the church and declared himself the prophet. He also claimed that he had the power to assign wives to men and to reassign them if they displeased him.

According to The Cinemaholic, Charlene Jeffs said that she had a happy marriage with Lyle until Warren became the prophet. She said that Warren changed everything and made the FLDS more secretive, isolated, and oppressive. She said that Warren imposed strict rules on how women should dress, behave, and interact with their husbands. He also introduced a practice called “seed bearers”, which meant that only a select group of men chosen by him could impregnate the women in the sect, while their husbands had to watch.

How Charlene Jeffs Was Banished from the FLDS

In 2012, Charlene Jeffs was banished from the FLDS for allegedly complaining about something. She said that she did not know what she had complained about, but she was told that she had complained. She was first confined to a garage and then to a trailer, where she was not allowed to see or talk to her children. In 2014, she was asked to leave the FLDS compound for being “unrighteous”.

Charlene Jeffs then decided to fight for the custody of her two youngest children, who were minors at the time. In 2015, she won joint custody with Lyle Jeffs, but the court ordered that the children should live with her. However, it was not easy for her to reconnect with her children, who had been brainwashed by the FLDS. She said that they were confused and scared of her.

According to ABC News, Charlene Jeffs also exposed some of the disturbing practices of the FLDS in court. She testified about the “law of Sarah”, which required that women perform sexual acts on each other before having sex with a seed bearer. She also revealed that Warren Jeffs had married underage girls and abused them sexually.

How Charlene Jeffs Left the FLDS and Moved On

In 2015, Charlene Jeffs said that she still loved Lyle and would go back to the FLDS if things returned to how they were before Warren took over. However, in 2016, she changed her mind and said that she realized how much the FLDS had damaged her mentally and emotionally. She said that she had been taught that loyalty to God and the prophet was the most important thing in life, and that anything else was worldly and irrelevant.

Charlene Jeffs has since left the FLDS and focused on raising her children. She has also appeared on several media outlets and documentaries to share her story and raise awareness about the dangers of polygamy and religious extremism. She has also supported other former members of the FLDS who have left or escaped the sect.

According to Cheat Sheet, Charlene Jeffs’ last known location is Hildale, Utah, where she lives a low-profile life. She is no longer part of the FLDS or any other religious group. She has also divorced Lyle Jeffs, who was arrested in 2016 for food stamp fraud and later escaped from home confinement. He was recaptured in 2017 and sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

Charlene Jeffs is one of the many victims of the FLDS who have managed to break free from its grip. She is an example of courage and resilience for anyone who is trapped in an abusive or oppressive situation.

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