Willie Jessop

Source: gosanangelo.com

Several people waiting in line at Carolyn Jessop’s book-signing described her story the same way: brave.

At least 130 people turned out at Hastings in San Angelo to see Jessop, author of “Escape,” and share a word or two with her.

The book is her memoir of life in a polygamist “marriage” in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and how she broke away with her eight children.

Jessop’s former husband, Merril Jessop, was the leader of the FLDS group at the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado that authorities raided in April. More than 400 children were temporarily taken into state custody.

“I think there’s quite a bit of interest here,” Carolyn Jessop said recently.

Willie Jessop, a sect elder who is a spokesman for the FLDS, said Tuesday that he has not read Carolyn Jessop’s book. He said more families continue to return to the YFZ Ranch to resume their way of life, and he is grateful for that.

Of the book-signing, Willie Jessop said, “I’m disappointed she would exploit such a tragic situation and use it for her own personal gain.” He was referring to the state raid on the sect’s ranch.

At the book signing, Callie Albus of San Angelo said she kept up with the news during the YFZ raid, but that Carolyn Jessop’s book gives details about the FLDS that weren’t on the news.

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Technorati Tags: Carolyn Jessop, Merril Jessop, Willie Jessop

Full article at: Salt Lake Tribune

A Washington County judge on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order and injunction sought by a polygamous sect spokesman, who is accusing a Cedar City investigator of harassment.

Fifth District Judge G. Rand Beacham set a hearing for July 23 on the action sought by Willie Jessop.

Jessop, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, filed the request against private investigator Sam Brower on Tuesday.

He claims Brower has a “long history of following and photographing FLDS members,” often leading to confrontations, and has engaged in a “pattern of continual harassment” that includes making disparaging comments about Jessop to the media.

Jessop wants Brower and anyone working for him kept 500 feet away from his homes and offices in Hildale, Canaan Gap, Cedar City and San Angelo, Texas.
Brower declined to comment to The Salt Lake Tribune about the matter on Wednesday.

Brower has helped develop cases against the FLDS over the past four years, working for attorneys Roger Hoole and Greg Hoole, who are brothers.

Via: Houston Chronicle

The spokesman for a southern Utah polygamous sect has asked a judge for a restraining order against a Cedar City private investigator.

In court papers filed Tuesday in St. George’s 5th District Court, Willie Jessop wants investigator Sam Brower to keep at least 500 feet from Jessop’s homes and business offices in Hildale and Cedar City, Utah, and in San Angelo, Texas.

Brower is a private investigator who has worked with lawyers involved in civil and criminal cases filed against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the past four years.

In court papers, Jessop claims Brower has twice trespassed on his properties — at least once with a television news crew in tow — frightening Jessop’s children and harassing employees of his excavating business.

Via: keyetv.com

…

The leader of the Fundamentalist sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was angry that he was denied the chance to publicly address the Supreme Court’s Commission on Children, Youth and Families.
…

Jessop came to town to attend a regularly scheduled meeting of the Supreme Court’s Commission on Children, Youth and Families.

He thought there would be a time for public comment, as there was at the last meeting. But he and the rest of the people who showed up were told there would be no allotted time to address committee members.

“The Supreme Court is supposed allow both sides to have something to say,” Jessop said. “This didn’t happen. It happened in their building under the disguise of justice and they didn’t want input from anyone else. The only side they wanted to hear from was Child Protective Services.”
…

It would seem as though this girl’s lawyer has an agenda of her own, and is not (according to the girl herself) representing her client’s interests. I find this to be a rather unusual situation.

CNN.com

A lawyer for a teen member of a polygamist sect has accused a sect leader of harassing and intimidating them both in a request for a restraining order filed Friday.
A mother and son are reunited two months after the FLDS raid in Texas.

A mother and son are reunited two months after the FLDS raid in Texas.

Natalie Malonis filed the request for the restraining order against Willie Jessop in District Court in San Angelo, Texas. She is an attorney ad litem on behalf of the 16-year-old girl, who has been named in court documents as the daughter Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the documents, Malonis suggested that Jessop may be trying to prevent the girl’s testimony before a grand jury.

Jessop’s conduct, “if allowed to continue, will impede the investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect,” she said.

There was no immediate response from Jessop to the court filing.

The girl was among more than 400 children that state child welfare workers seized from the FLDS’s Yearning for Zion Ranch in April.

Via: ABC4.com

The criminal investigation into the FLDS is entering its final stages. Sources both in Utah and Texas tell ABC 4 News a grand jury will begin hearing evidence next week. The Eldorado Success Newspaper reports the Texas attorney general is replacing local prosecutors which is evidence that the stakes are high in the FLDS case.

The attorney general and all others involved in the grand jury process cannot comment. The proceedings are secret, but a source familiar with the investigation says subpoenas have already been given to several members of the polygamist group.

At least one potential witness, a 16-year-old girl, has not been found. According to an affidavit filed in court in Schleicher County, Texas, investigators for the attorney general have been unable to locate Teresa Jeffs. Teresa is a daughter of FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and is believed to be a child bride of Raymond Jessop. She had been living in the San Antonio area with her mother, Annette.

What happened to her? Teresa’s attorney ad litem, Natalie Malonis, told the court, “I believe that Teresa was avoiding service because of coercion and improper influence from Willie Jessop.”

From: Salt Lake Tribune

A Texas judge has temporarily barred an FLDS spokesman accused of intimidation from contacting a daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs.

Attorney Natalie Malonis, joined by guardian ad litem Connie Gauwain, filed a motion Friday asking for a restraining order against Willie Jessop.

Fifty-first District Judge Barbara Walther granted the request just before court closed. The judge also ordered Annette Jeffs, the girl’s mother, to notify law enforcement if Jessop attempts to contact her. Walther set a hearing on the matter for next week.
Malonis and Gauwain allege that Jessop has intimidated and improperly influenced the 16-year-old girl, encouraging her to seek a new attorney and to avoid service of a subpoena to appear before a grand jury next week in Schleicher County.

On Thursday, the girl filed her own letter with Walther asking for a new attorney because Malonis has “made untrue statements about me and has tried to make me admit things that did not happen.”

Malonis says in her motion the girl is a “material witness with information relevant to a pending criminal investigation against certain male FLDS members.”

It also says that Malonis learned from Texas Child Protective Services and law enforcement that the girl had been spiritually sealed to an adult male just after she turned 15.