Under the Radar. Fern Michaels

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      “A while back, this guy Harold Evanrod stepped up to the plate, even though no one voted him in, if in fact that’s how you get to be the Prophet. He splintered off and formed his own little group and started calling it the HOE, and, as we now know, that stands for Heaven on Earth, according to him and his followers. That particular compound is located approximately twenty miles from Sienna, where Pearl is right now.

      “Jeffs and the FLDS people in Texas are a separate issue. There’s nothing we can do about that, and we don’t even want to go there since the authorities are making a mess of things as it is. Let them all stew in their own juice. What we can do something about is the HOE group.

      “I have a little background, but not much because they practice secrecy to the nth degree in those places.

      “There was an attorney named David Leavitt who prosecuted a guy named Tom Green. Green broke with tradition and went on the TV circuit with his seven wives and bragged that he’d married some of them when they were minors. At the age of thirty-seven, he impregnated a thirteen-year-old.

      “Many of the spiritual/celestial wives register with the state as a single mother and draw welfare for their families. In one decade, Green and his dependents received more than $647,000 in public assistance. Do the math here, girls. He’s just one guy. Multiply that by all those guys in similar compounds, and the amount of free money they get is mind-boggling. And it’s the taxpayers who foot the bill.

      “Leavitt considered Green a pedophile. He said little girls are raised from the cradle to marry as children and know only a life of polygamy. Leavitt said the children are victims of pedophiles and victims of the state of Utah, which turned its back on polygamy for sixty years. It appears it’s a new ball game these days, with new rules.

      “Long story short, Leavitt filed charges against Green and won convictions on charges of bigamy, criminal nonsupport, and child rape. Unfortunately, the judge was lenient and Green only served five years total in prison.

      “After that, the voters turned on Leavitt and voted him out of office that same year, with many voters saying the publicity was distasteful to them. Try and figure that one out, girls.”

      Alexis took her turn and started reading. “What the polygamists were hoping was that the practice of polygamy would sink back into obscurity, but that hasn’t happened. A few have gotten away to tell of the abuse and are, as we speak, providing the authorities with as much information as they can. Some of them are suing the United Effort Plan, which is a communal property trust held by the FLDS. A judge removed the trustees and appointed new ones. Believe it or not, police officers have been forced to resign because they practiced polygamy and refused to uphold the secular laws. They even forced a judge out of office for the same thing.

      “Some of the states have tried to crack down on the endemic welfare fraud in polygamous groups. The fraud is even institutionalized as ‘bleeding the beast,’ by which church members mean taking from federal and state governments because the government has persecuted them or their Mormon ancestors.

      “Two listeners paraphrased the polygamous priest James Harmston as preaching that God ‘wants’ them to take from every government program possible. God ‘doesn’t expect you to wallow in turkey manure. In another lifetime, we were persecuted and thrown out of our country by the government. We are entitled to everything we can get.’”

      Alexis read on. “With God ordering up fraud, as argued by modern-day polygamists, there is plenty of it. Many plural wives claim they don’t know the whereabouts of their children’s fathers. As many as 50 percent were on public assistance in a place called Hildale, Utah, in 2001; 33 percent were on food stamps in 1998 compared to Utah’s average of 4.7 percent. In 1997, every school-age child in Colorado City, Arizona, was living below the poverty level.

      “That guy Jeffs got $2.8 million dollars from the federal government to build an airport for his chartered Lear jet. But that’s Arizona, so you have to believe it’s the same in the other states where they practice polygamy. Oh, another thing, Homeland Security gave that tiny little place a grant of $350,000, and it was the state’s largest HS grant. The state of Arizona had to take over the Colorado City school system because of gross mismanagement of public funds.”

      Isabelle shuffled her papers until she found what she wanted. “Ah, here it is. I never heard of this, but since it’s been reported, I have to believe it’s true. The youngsters were called ‘the lost boys.’ They were kicked to the curb because they had a surplus of males. These kids were left to fend for themselves and didn’t know how. There were four hundred of them. Those children were taught from the cradle up that the Prophet must be obeyed as God’s representative, that the outside world is evil, and that anyone leaving will be ground to dust and damned in the afterlife. The youngsters didn’t know how to cope, some committed suicide, some turned to drugs, they steal, and are homeless. Those poor boys live their lives like it’s their last day on earth. They can’t believe they won’t have three wives as promised and are convinced that they’re doomed. All they want is to go back to their mothers. There are just too many heartbreaking stories here to read,” Isabelle said, tears in her eyes.

      “Some of the boys, with some help, filed a civil suit back in 2004 against the FLDS. It’s in negotiation now. The church is fighting it, saying that because they are a church, they have a constitutional right to set their own standards for excommunication.

      “Some of the appointed lawyers are saying that the ‘Babyland’ cemetery in Colorado City has many unmarked graves, plus eighteen minor children, plus eight stillbirths.

      “It’s said that some women pray to have children with Down’s syndrome because such children usually have docile temperaments and because the mothers get $500 a month in assistance for a handicapped child,” Kathryn said in a cold, brittle voice.

      “I don’t want to hear any more of this,” Annie said. “I think we’re all getting the picture here. Young girls are being forced to marry old men, and their mothers do nothing to stop it, and even encourage it. Since the children don’t know any better, they do what they’re told. They’re broodmares, nothing more. So, we’re going to go to the HOE compound, somehow. We’re going to take on those old men and the women who support them. Somehow we will get the children out of there to safety. Is that how you’re all seeing it?”

      “Damn straight,” Kathryn said, speaking for the group. “But, Annie, what are we going to do with them once we take over?”

      “I have a glimmer of an idea,” Annie said, her eyes sparkling. “Tell me what you think. Remember when we were in Las Vegas, and we went to that abandoned nursing home down the road from Mr. Fish’s property?” The women nodded. “Well, think about this. What if I buy that, add on a couple of wings, refurbish, and set it up to take care of all those people who want a better life? We can hire nurses and doctors and therapists. I even know just the person who I bet will jump at the chance to run the place. Paula Woodley. Remember her? I think she’ll jump in with both feet, and she’s loyal to all of us. Even after what we did to her awful national security advisor husband.”

      “Damn, Annie, that’s a stupendous idea,” Yoko said. “But it is rather like putting the cart before the horse. What if we screw up our mission?”

      “Honey, don’t think like that. We were all born to succeed. This time will be no different, and I, for one, am anxious to see if we can do it without Charles. Say the word, and I’ll put the wheels in motion.”

      The chorus of ayes rang in the enclosed room.

      “There you have it,” Annie said happily.

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