Photo: Instagram
He accused his dad of sexual abuse.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Jun 06, 2019
Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints cult, is in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of child sex assaults. His 26-year-old son Roy Jeffs, who spoke out against his father, committed suicide in his Salt Lake City, Utah home on Wednesday, May 29th. His half-sister Rachel Jeffs told the Salt Lake Tribune: "Father didn't love him. Roy knew it. All of us knew it. We all got told Roy was a bad boy." Who is Roy Jeffs?
1. How he was raised
Roy was one of dozens of children fathered by Warren Jeffs. He was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, a Mormon splinter group that spread from its base along the Arizona/Utah border to other locations in the United States and Canada. Roy was raised to believe that his father Warren was God incarnate. Warren Jeffs is serving a sentence of life in prison for sexually assaulting underage girls that he considered his wives.
2. How he escaped
Roy Jeffs ran away from an FLDS work crew in 2014 and soon felt it was his duty to tell his story. In a 2016 speech at the screening of the FLDS documentary Prophet's Prey at the Black Hills Film Festival in Rapid City, South Dakota, he spoke about his experience growing up with the FLDS. “It’s caused me hell in my life emotionally,” he said. “Every day I get up and sometimes it’s an absolute battle to find worth in life.”
3. His father sexually assaulted him
After escaping the cult in 2014, Roy began speaking out about being sexually assaulted by his father as a child. "He made me feel like I had done something wrong," Roy said. "If you think about everything that has happened, it just breaks me down real bad," he told the Associated Press. The abuse scarred him. He said his father sexually abused him before he turned six. He finally left the cult after years of being controlled, manipulated and moved around the country to evade the law.
4. His relationship with his father
Rachel Jeffs posted about Warren and Roy's relationship on social media before Roy died. “He did not allow Roy to grow up with his siblings, and he kept him hidden in houses of hiding most of his growing up life, telling the family that Roy was a bad boy and tried to turn us against him. I’m proud of Roy for the courage he’s shown in being the first of my siblings to leave the FLDS cult and trying to figure out life the best he could.”
If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24-hour support at 1-800-273-8255.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.