‘I grew up in a polyamorous cult and married my cousin, 19, when I was 14’ | World | News

Following a series of devastating experiences during her childhood, Elissa Wall bravely chose to speak out about her extraordinary upbringing within a religious sect controlled by the infamous Warren Jeffs.

Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence after being found guilty of child sexual assault in 2011.

Elissa Wall was born in 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah, a US state recognised for its substantial Mormon community. Both her parents were devoted followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a Mormon faction that broke away from the LDS after its prohibition of polygamy, as they opted to engage in a polygamous marriage themselves.

Her parents had numerous children together, making Wall one of 14 siblings born to her mother. Additionally, she had 10 half-siblings through her father’s relationships.

Within their extremely conservative home, the young girls were required to dress in lengthy “pioneer-style” frocks that covered them from wrist to ankle, whilst styling their hair in plain matching buns and plaits, reports <a href=”https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/i-forced-marry-cousin-14-35764298″ rel=”Follow” target=”_self”>the Mirror</a>.

During her childhood, Wall was educated at the Alta Academy, which was owned and operated by the church under Jeffs’ leadership, and there came a time in Elissa’s existence when this individual dominated every aspect of her life. In 2001, at the tender age of 14, she was coerced into marrying her 19 year old cousin, Allen Steed, by the former cult leader.

This union was endorsed by her parents, and despite her vocal objections and disdain for Steed, she was pressured into marriage in a ceremony conducted by Jeffs in Nevada.

Her heart-wrenching autobiography, Stolen Innocence, recounts the traumatic marriage to her cousin, where she endured regular sexual assaults and suffered multiple miscarriages. The church’s failure to provide sex education left her uninformed about her husband’s advances, leading to confusion.

When her marriage to her cousin disintegrated when she was just 17, Wall spent countless nights sleeping in her truck before starting an affair with a former FLDS member. Lamont Barlow, aged 25, supported her decision to leave the church after meeting her.

Their affair became public when Wall unexpectedly fell pregnant, leading Jeffs to annul her marriage to Steed. She soon married Lamont and they had two children together – but this was not the end of her journey towards freedom.

Her ordeal with Jeffs and his religious sect hadn’t concluded when, in 2006, Wall chose to bring charges against the cult leader, who had been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List after absconding.

Wall remembered the moment authorities tracked down his location and the circumstances in which they discovered him.

She described how he was “in a red Cadillac found to contain $54,000 in cash, 15 mobile phones, three iPods, laptop computers, a police scanner, a stack of credit cards and two female wigs, one blonde and one brunette”.

In 2007, Jeffs, now 69, was convicted of raping a 15 year old child bride, as well as raping a 12 year old child bride, receiving a life sentence plus 20 years and an additional £7,850 fine.

Wall documented the turmoil of her youth in her memoir and continues sharing her experiences today to serve as, in her own words, an “advocate for the abused and disempowered”.

Her website declares: “Being a part of rebuilding my community has also rebuilt me in so many ways. It allowed me to face my darkest demons and grow beyond the events of life, rekindled friendships of my past, and forged new ones with the many amazing people here doing really incredible work.”