SALT LAKE CITY — A bill making its way through the Utah State Legislature aims to help solve a growing problem in one polygamous community.
The House of Representatives voted unanimously to support Rep. Walt Brooks' House Bill 467. It declares that if someone is "sent away" from a community, they can come back and assert their parental rights without fear of facing child abandonment charges themselves.
It's an issue particularly within the Fundamentalist LDS Church. Imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs issued a "revelation" in 2022 (that FOX 13 News obtained) calling for people to return to the faith and bring their children with them. As a result, some parents who have left the FLDS Church have raised alarm bells about Jeffs' proclamation, reporting their children missing and struggles asserting their parental rights.
Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for child sex assault related to underage "marriages." He still leads the FLDS Church from prison, though church observers say the day-to-day operations of the faith have defaulted to one of his sons.
Rep. Brooks said his bill is designed to help.
"If someone is pushed out of a community and they come back to get their kids, they can't use the threat of child abandonment to keep them away," Rep. Brooks, R-St. George, told FOX 13 News.
The bill has the support of Cherish Families, a nonprofit organization based in Colorado City, Ariz., that works with people in and outside polygamous communities.
