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Though Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting children earlier this week, his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints remain loyal to him — so loyal that they're planning to erect a 38-foot statue of him at the FLDS compound on the Utah/Arizona border. Thanks to a no-media policy in the compound, Jeffs followers don't know about the evidence presented against him. Sources say that for those building the statue, this is a "way of showing them that they can't take him away from us." More »
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Since news broke of Madonna's plans for a multi-million dollar girls school in Malawi crumbled, there have been several attempts to explain what went wrong — and how Madonna got involved in a spiritual organization that many see as a cult that preys on celebrities. More »
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On the surface, a movement for gender equality sounds like just the sort of thing we would praise, but the Go Topless Day leaves a lot to be desired. And not just because the founder is known nutjob Claude Vorilhon. More »
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Ria Ramkissoon, a young mother from Baltimore, has been charged with starving her son to death in late 2006. She has agreed to withdraw her guilty plea if the child rises from the dead. More »
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At 18 years old, the world begins to change. High school ends and the real world begins, and though the strange transition into adulthood and independence happens somewhere around that time, most of us will have some connection with our families, either continuing to live under our parents' roof or maintaining a relationship with them through check-in phone calls and emails. But there are some people who disappear completely, disconnecting themselves from the lives they no longer care to live. An 18-year-old named Tom from England left his family in May, using a form letter written up by the leader of group he had joined on the internet. "Dear family," the letter said, "I need to take an indefinite amount of time away from the family, so I've moved in with a friend. Please do not contact me. Tom." The family has not heard from Tom since, and they say the internet is to blame. More »
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• We agreed we would lie to our kids about our debauched pasts. There will be fewer than eighteen of them, trust.

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Michael Travesser, formerly known as Wayne Bent, the cult leader accused of sexual molestation, sent his son, Jeff Bent to Larry King last night to do some damage control. King asked Jeff about the National Geographic documentary, Inside A Cult, during which Michael talks about boning Jeff's wife. Jeff claims that the couple were divorced by the time Michael and his wife consummated their "spiritual marriage," and besides, what they did wasn't sex as mere mortals know it. "They've been ordained by God...it was a spiritual experience illustrated by a physical act," Jeff tells King. Clip above. More »
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Remember yesterday's post about Wayne Bent, aka Michael Travesser, the prophet of a cult called the Lord Our Righteousness Church who was arrested on charges of child molestation? Well last night, the National Geographic Channel aired a documentary about Travesser and the LORs, and lordy lordy, it was bonkers. This first clip shows Michael with "Healed," one of the minors he is accused of molesting. (Michael, who in cult lore is the son of God, said that God told him to lie naked with seven virgins.) Healed's parents no longer live on the cult's compound, and although her parents have begged her to leave, Healed insists on living with "God's son." Her crazed chuckle is enough to chill anyone with a pulse. After the jump, a second clip showing two other barely-legal LORs explaining the elation they felt at lying naked with Michael, doing "God's will". More »
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Meet Wayne Bent, aka Michael Travesser aka the Messiah. The Charles Manson-looking yahoo is the prophet and leader of the Lord Our Righteousness Church, and he was arrested on Tuesday on three counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor at the church's compound in rural New Mexico. The three allegedly molested children were also taken from the ranch. (At left is Bent with his wife, Emma. He is 66. She looks about 20, tops.) The compound is a former ranch near the Arizona border, which Bent and his followers have dubbed Strong City. According to the Associated Press, "Wayne Bent has acknowledged having sex with followers - including his daughter-in-law - and lying naked with virgins. He said the virgins asked for sex, but he refused." More »
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Child custody hearings begin today in Texas for the 416 minors who were taken from the polygamist sect Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints' compound near Eldorado. According to CNN, logistics will be decided upon today, like which cases take precedence, while the actual fates of the children will be determined on Thursday. As previously reported, over 100 mothers accompanied the children from the compound, also known as the Yearning For Zion Ranch, when they were taken by police over a week ago. Texas authorities were responding to a call from a 16-year-old who blew the whistle on YFZ child abuse, though that teen has yet to be located. The mothers and children have been living in a temporary shelter in San Angelo, Texas, and the FLDS moms are none too pleased at the treatment they've been receiving. More »
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• We were so into the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints and their Yearning For Zion Ranch, where girls in their early teens get married off to gross molesty old men with multiple other wives, none of whom are allowed to wear red because that's Jesus' color.

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Acting on a tip from a 16-year-old church member, Texas Child Protective Services arranged a raid on Friday at the compound of the polygamist sect The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 200 miles outside San Antonio. According to the AP, the teen caller said she was married and had a baby at age 15 with registered sex offender Dale Barlow, 50 — a clear violation of Texas law, as girls under 16 are not allowed to be wed, even with parental approval. The most recent reports state that Texas State troopers removed 219 people out of the compound —a former exotic game ranch, now called Yearning For Zion (YFZ) by the controversial church — but they've been as yet unable to locate the caller who notified child protective services in the first place. More »
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