Crackdown on polygamy group

Specifically, Jeffs is charged in Utah and Arizona with sexual assault of underage girls and with arranging "spiritual" marriages for girls and older men. At weekend press conferences in Salt Lake City and Phoenix, FBI and state officials said Jeffs "is considered armed and dangerous and may be traveling with armed bodyguards." In the past, he has talked in apocalyptic terms about a violent end to the world, according to former members.

"The thing that makes it so hard to track a guy like this down is that he probably has a lot of cash, and like Osama bin Laden [who also is on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted list], he has people who totally buy into his position as a religious icon, and would guard him quite loyally," says Levin.

The FLDS is based in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah; and Colorado City, Ariz. It also has compounds in Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and in British Columbia, Canada.

Among the more bizarre practices has been the banishment of young men from their communities, reportedly on the grounds of unacceptable behavior. But according to reports by former members, it's more likely this was done to make more younger women available to the older men.

As with Christian Identity and other hate-related philosophies tied to the Aryan Nations and the neo-Nazi Creativity Movement, Jeffs has preached racism as well. "The black race is the people through which the devil has always been able to bring evil unto the earth," Jeffs has said as cited by the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Intelligence Report."

It's a difficult situation for the Mormon Church, which states: "No members of the Church today can enter into polygamy without being excommunicated."

An editorial in the church-owned Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City earlier this year acknowledged that "the state's history, a conservative belief in free choice, and an unwillingness to stir up a hornet's nest in the national media have likely all contributed to the kid-glove approach lawmakers and law-enforcement officers have taken when dealing with polygamous communities."

But according to some medical experts, intermarriage in polygamous relationships has led to severe birth defects in an unusually high number of children. Citing forced marriages, the lack of proper education in polygamous communities, coercion, and economic blackmail, the newspaper said, "Those charged with safeguarding Utah's citizens will perhaps be able to step in, step up intervention and get to the bottom of a regional phenomenon that has bedeviled laymen and lawmakers for generations."

In some cases, that's already happening. A judge in Utah froze the assets, including homes, businesses, and property, of the FLDS-run trust. The Arizona Board of Education has ordered the takeover of the sect-run school district in Colorado City. The Utah Supreme Court has removed from the bench a part-time judge in Hildale, Utah, who has three wives. And the FBI has just raised the reward to $100,000 for information leading to Jeffs's arrest.

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