Prison unlikely to cut cult following

Warren Jeffs

PHOENIX - Polygamist sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs is expected to maintain his grip on his congregation from behind bars.

People close to the sect said Jeffs, arrested by police on Wednesday in a routine traffic stop outside Las Vegas, Nevada, never loosened his grip on his 10,000 followers during his two years on the run.

Prosecutors said yesterday Jeffs, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted men, will will face charges in Utah first, and then in Arizona

He will face charges as an accomplice to rape in Utah, before being sent to Arizona on counts of sexual assault and other misconduct with minors.

But his influence is not expected to be seriously affected if he is convicted.

"I think there's a structure in place that if Warren got caught they'll still carry out his word, and they'll figure out how to keep communicating with him," said Andrew Chatwin, a former church member who moved back to Hildale last year.

Jeffs has led the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with congregants mostly in Hildale and neighbouring Colorado City, Arizona, since 2002 after the death of his 98-year-old father.

The group split from the mainstream Mormon Church when the Mormons disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.

Jeffs has been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May, charged in Utah and Arizona with felony sex crimes that include alleged arranged marriages between underage girls and older men.

He was caught by chance when a Cadillac Escalade sports utility vehicle in which he was riding was pulled over by the Nevada Highway Patrol for having a temporary Colorado licence tag, officials said.

- REUTERS