Southwest
Polygamist cult leader's daughter breaks free, says false prophet abused her: 'The world could see the shame'
It was New Year’s Eve 2014 when the daughter of polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs finally broke free.
“When I stepped out, I remembered thinking, ‘Gosh, I should have left sooner,’” Rachel Blackmore recalled to Fox News Digital. “There’s just so much life out there.”
The mother of seven is coming forward in a new A&E docuseries, “Secrets of Polygamy,” which explores extreme polygamist groups across the country.
It features new sit-downs with one of Jeffs’ former wives and former members and investigators.
SON OF POLYGAMOUS CULT LEADER WARREN JEFFS SPEAKS OUT IN DOC: ‘WE WERE BRAINWASHED’
Rachel Blackmore is speaking out in A&E’s “Secrets of Polygamy.” (A&E)
Jeffs, 68, was sentenced in 2011 to life in prison after his conviction on two counts of child sexual abuse. In 2017, Blackmore wrote a memoir, “Breaking Free.”
“It’s been really important to me to give a voice to the young girls who have been sexually abused,” Blackmore shared.
Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mainstream church abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
The headquarters of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado City, Ariz. The home base of FLDS is on the Arizona-Utah border. (Getty Images)
The FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) broke away from the Mormon church and was formed so that members could continue practicing plural marriage. It was headquartered on the Utah-Arizona border. Jeffs’ father, Rulon T. Jeffs, took power in 1986 and ruled until he died in 2002 at age 92. He left behind an estimated 75 widows and 65 children.
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Following Rulon’s death, Warren Jeffs took over as the group’s prophet. In the FLDS, it is believed the prophet can speak directly to God and direct which male members can enter heaven. The prophet can also perform marriages and assign wives to their husbands. In pleasing the prophet, loyal members are rewarded with more wives, who “belong” to their spouses for eternity, NPR reported. Members believe that each man must have at least three wives.
“I think, as a child, you don’t realize when something’s bad all the time,” Blackmore recalled. “I think, for a lot of us, that’s how it was. … I felt protected from the world. I was taught that the outside world was wicked.”
The grave of FLDS prophet Rulon Jeffs. He fathered more than 60 children. (Getty Images)
Jeffs has an estimated 78 wives and 53 biological children.
“We had to wear sleeves to our wrists and long dresses. Our hair had to be braided a certain way,” Blackmore said. “And there were the continual teachings of polygamy where there was a leader, one man, and you never questioned him. … We were taught that if we wanted to go to heaven, we had to live polygamy. We had to have sister wives and marry a man we were told to marry, not who we wanted to choose. All of those restrictions were accepted because that’s all we knew.”
In the series, Blackmore claimed Jeffs sexually molested her when she was eight years old. She noted that women and girls couldn’t express anger or jealousy without enduring punishment. Instead, they had to “be sweet.”
Several young women play football in the dirt yard of one of the many schools in Colorado City, Ariz., owned and run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints March 3, 2004. (George Frey)
“I have always been taught that boys don’t touch girls, that our bodies must be covered,” she said. “So, when Warren started sexually abusing me, I was just shocked. I just felt so guilty. I just put the shame on myself. … I just felt the whole world could see the shame. I went from being a joyful girl to being shy and quiet. And I didn’t tell anyone for a long time because I felt shame. I was embarrassed.”
Blackmore said the abuse continued until she was 16.
“I faced Warren one day and told him that I hated him doing those things to me,” she explained. “I didn’t know words like ‘molest,’ ‘abuse’ or ‘rape.’ He listened and asked for my forgiveness. And he stopped doing it. But then he started marrying younger girls after that.”
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Rachel Blackmore claimed her father, Warren Jeffs (pictured here), started molesting her when she turned 8. (Douglas C. Pizac/AFP)
At 18, Blackmore was forced into an arranged marriage. Her husband already had two wives. They met for the first time on the day before their wedding.
“Warren performed the marriages. He decided who married who,” Blackmore said. “He chose my husband for me, and he kept control of our marriage. He had the say of what my husband and I did at all times.”
For years, Blackmore wondered what life was like in the outside world. She feared that her five children would endure the same abuse she did. And when one of her younger sisters confessed that she was also molested by Jeffs, Blackmore had enough.
Rachel Blackmore said she was stunned by her sister’s revelation. (Visions of America/Joe Sohm/Universal Images Group)
“It was a big moment for me,” Blackmore said. “I realized it wasn’t my fault. Warren had a problem with sexual abuse. And we both agreed that we didn’t trust him with our kids. That’s when I said, ‘I’m going to leave.’ It was the first time I said it out loud. And when I did, I knew it was the final decision for me. Even though I didn’t leave for a few months after, I knew that was it.”
Little by little, Blackmore was “disobedient” as she began taking her children out on longer walks and leaving the property. Every time she got in trouble for “spreading my wings,” she was also getting a taste of freedom. But time was ticking. Blackmore learned that, as punishment, she was going to be placed in a bishop’s house, a property with towering walls and coded gates. Blackmore knew if she ended up there, she and her children would never be able to leave.
“It was scary, but I was sneaky,” said Blackmore. “I got my kids out during the night to my sister’s house. She had already left.”
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Rachel Blackmore fled the compound in secret with her five children. (George Frey)
Blackmore and her children managed to leave the compound in secret.
“I didn’t know how I was going to support five kids on my own,” Blackmore admitted. “I’m not going to pretend that [being free] was easy. It wasn’t. It was really hard. It’s still a growing experience for me. I’m still learning how to make friends and live within a community.
“I remember experiencing Christmas and Easter for the first time,” she recalled. “We never got to celebrate those things. I also wanted my children to celebrate their birthdays. I wanted to exchange gifts. I wanted them to go to a school and meet all kinds of people. I wanted them to experience what it was like to date. I never got to experience any of those things. There were so many firsts we didn’t have in a cult.”
In this handout provided by the FBI, polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs is pictured on an FBI Ten Most Wanted poster. (FBI)
In 2006, Jeffs, who was on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested during a routine traffic stop near Las Vegas. He was booked on two out-of-state warrants issued in Utah and Arizona on charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and rape as an accomplice.
Women and children from the YFZ Ranch, the compound built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, are moved by bus to San Angelo, Texas, April 6, 2008. (Khampha Bouaphanh/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service)
According to prosecutors, Jeffs engaged in sexual abuse with two girls, ages 12 and 14. A key piece of evidence against Jeffs was an audio recording of him instructing his “spiritual bride,” as well as several other girls, on how to please him sexually.
In 2007, Jeffs tried to hang himself in a Utah jail. He was force-fed at an Arizona jail in 2009. Then in 2011, he was sentenced to life in prison. That same year, he was put in a medically-induced coma after fasting behind bars.
Some followers of FLDS still consider Jeffs to be their prophet and that he was wrongfully convicted. But over the years, the group has lost hundreds of members who either left or were cast out.
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Warren Jeffs in a booking photo from Sept. 5, 2006, at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, after he was extradited from Nevada. (Washington County Sheriff)
Blackmore has remarried. And she’s hopeful her story will give hope to other young women like her who left.
“We need to work, more than ever, to protect our children,” she said. “To give children an opportunity to have a good life is important to me. … And as long as there are people who will do what Warren says, he will always be a threat. … But there is strength and healing after trauma. There is hope you can have a better life.”
“Secrets of Polygamy” premieres Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. on A&E. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Girl begged for help months before alleged killing by father, girlfriend — earlier abuse case closed: report
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Newly released police records show that 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste pleaded for help months before she was allegedly killed by her father and his girlfriend in Arizona, revealing an earlier abuse report that was closed despite documented injuries.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, a Phoenix police report details a 911 call made from a local gas station in October 2024, roughly nine months before Rebekah was found unresponsive. The report states the child approached a gas station clerk and begged for help, prompting officers to respond.
Police wrote that Rebekah told officers her father’s girlfriend, Anicia Woods, had hit her with a brush and a belt as punishment and forced her to run laps and endure other physical discipline for “acting out,” the outlet reported. Officers documented visible injuries, and Rebekah was taken to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she was treated for a bloody lip and bruising on her hands and feet, according to the report.
Despite the child’s statements and her injuries, investigators closed the case after her father, Richard Baptiste, and Woods told police the injuries were self-inflicted, the outlet reported.
911 CALLS, POLICE REPORT DETAILS DARK TIMELINE TO ARIZONA GIRL’S TRAGIC DEATH
A father and girlfriend face murder charges after 10-year-old Rebekah Baptiste died from extensive injuries while living off-grid in rural Arizona. (GoFundMe)
Rebekah was later found unresponsive on July 27, 2025, near a remote campsite outside Concho, Arizona, where investigators say the family had been living off-grid in a yurt without electricity or running water after relocating from Phoenix earlier that month. The family slept on thin mattresses on the floor and hauled water in plastic jugs from a convenience store roughly 15 miles away, according to investigators.
A 36-page probable-cause affidavit from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office detailed what detectives described as escalating abuse and repeated attempts by Rebekah to flee. Records show the girl had previously jumped out of a window while living in Phoenix and made multiple escape attempts after the move to Concho, including the day she was taken to the hospital.
Despite Rebekah’s visible physical decline, including being too weak to drink from a straw, Woods, who claimed to have a background in nursing, told investigators she believed the girl “would be fine” and did not seek immediate medical care.
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An Arizona couple is facing murder charges after a young girl was found unresponsive on a highway and died days later. (Apache County Sheriff’s Office)
When first questioned, both Woods and Baptiste denied knowing what caused Rebekah’s condition, suggesting she may have fallen. Medical professionals later found extensive signs of abuse, including a brain hemorrhage, burn marks, missing toenails and hair, and numerous cuts and bruises, according to investigators.
Previously reviewed 911 calls from July 27 show Woods referring to Rebekah as her daughter and claiming she was providing rescue breaths, though dispatchers noted she had not begun chest compressions and hesitated to place the child on firm ground, citing nearby rocks. Emergency crews later arrived, but Rebekah did not survive her injuries and was pronounced dead days later at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Investigators wrote that when Baptiste was shown what one detective described as “horrendous photos” of his daughter’s injuries, he “lacked in expressing any emotion.” The detective added it would have been impossible for a parent not to notice the extent of the child’s injuries.
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Authorities say Baptiste later admitted to striking Rebekah with a belt as punishment for running away, though he denied causing her head injuries. Detectives also reported finding bloody clothing inside the family’s tent that had been changed before emergency services were contacted.
Both Baptiste and Woods are now facing first-degree murder and multiple child abuse charges, including allegations involving Rebekah’s two younger siblings. Prosecutors have also alleged Rebekah suffered ongoing physical and sexual abuse.
Concerns about the children’s safety had been raised repeatedly before Rebekah’s death. School officials at Empower College Prep reportedly contacted Arizona’s Department of Child Safety (DCS) at least 12 times over two years, including after Rebekah’s unexplained absence from school, according to prior reporting.
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A memorial plaque for Rebekah Baptiste marks a planted tree in her memory at an outdoor garden, dated Dec. 20, 2014, to July 30, 2025. (Empower College Prep Elementary)
Rebekah was remembered by the school, where she attended for two years, in a tribute posted on its Facebook page the day after Christmas. School officials described her as intelligent, compassionate and a natural leader, noting she earned the Star Wolfpack award for exemplifying the school’s core values.
In her honor, the school planted a tree with pink flowers, surrounded by a rock garden made from stones created by staff and students, and displayed a decorative crane donated by a staff member. The school said the tributes allow students and staff to remember her life each day.
DCS has since launched a review into whether the agency failed to adequately protect the child. Gov. Katie Hobbs has also pledged to fully investigate the case amid growing public scrutiny.
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State Sen. Carine Werner has cited Rebekah’s case as part of a broader failure within Arizona’s child protection system, calling the deaths of three children with prior DCS contact a “wake-up call.”
Werner said a September stakeholder meeting, part of a multiphase review process, included testimony from families, tribal representatives and child welfare experts as lawmakers weigh possible reforms.
Fox News Digital reached out to DCS and Phoenix police.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southwest
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal sponsors former basketball player’s attempt to be tallest police officer in Texas
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Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal had 3,026 assists in his NBA career, but one of his biggest assists came long after his retirement.
O’Neal, 53, is helping former professional basketball player Jordan Wilmore complete his lifelong dream of becoming the tallest police officer in Texas. O’Neal and Wilmore have more in common than being former basketball players; they are both over seven feet tall.
O’Neal, who stands at seven-foot one, is actually shorter than Wilmore, who is seven-foot three.
Shaquille O’Neal and Jordan Wilmore pose with members of Kemah police department in Kemah, Texas, on Dec. 28, 2025. (EyeCandyMedia)
Wilmore was hoping to become a police officer in Kemah, Texas, but recently failed the state peace officer exam. Wilmore scored a 69, falling one point shy of the requisite 70 needed to pass, but plans to take it again.
“At first I was down, but I thought, you know, I’m still young. You fail, you get right back up. Can’t be too quick to quit,” Wilmore said, according to KHOU.
Police Chief Raymond Garivey praised Wilmore’s determination.
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Shaquille O’Neal holds badge with aspiring police Jordan Wilmore in the background in Kemah, Texas, on Dec. 28, 2025. (EyeCandyMedia)
“In my 34-year career, I’ve seen others fail, but I also see others give up. Once they’re done, they’re done. That’s not the case here. He wants to serve,” Garivey said, according to KHOU.
O’Neal heard about Wilmore’s attempt to become a police officer and reached out, agreeing to sponsor his next attempt at the police academy. The 15-time All-Star will also have a custom-made car ready for Wilmore, to fit his large frame, when he passes the exam.
“I’m really thankful for him helping me out and being there, and being a mentor for helping me through this,” Wilmore said.
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Shaquille O’Neal with aspiring police Jordan Wilmore in Kemah, Texas, on Dec. 28, 2025. (EyeCandyMedia)
O’Neal is a certified peace officer himself and knows the process.
“It actually took me five to seven years to graduate from the LA Sheriff’s Academy. I wanted to just let him know he’s got my full support. I’m going to be on you, brother, make sure you get it done,” O’Neal said, according to KHOU.
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Texas woman tries to flee to Mexico across Rio Grande with infant after human smuggling bust, authorities say
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A Texas woman found with five illegal immigrants in her vehicle attempted to flee from authorities near the border by swimming across the Rio Grande into Mexico with an infant, officials said.
Brenda Castro, a U.S. citizen, was a passenger in a Ford Explorer being driven by her husband, also an American citizen, on Dec. 19 in the border city of Laredo when he refused to stop for Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers, the agency said.
Dashcam footage released by DPS shows the SUV traveling at a high speed along residential and rural roads.
Authorities said a high-speed chase ensued when Castro bailed out of the vehicle with an infant and tried to swim across the river, which borders Mexico.
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Brenda Castro jumped into the Rio Grande with an infant in an attempt to flee to Mexico during a high-speed chase with authorities while smuggling illegal immigrants, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. (Getty Images; Texas Department of Public Safety)
Castro’s husband swam across and made it to Mexico, a DPS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
State and local law authorities at the scene directed Castro to come back to the U.S. side of the border, and she was arrested.
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Bodycam footage shows Brenda Castro and an infant in the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
While in the river, authorities were heard telling Castro in Spanish to get back to dry land with the child. A law enforcement officer was then seen taking the child out of the water.
“I can’t believe you tried to run back with the baby. You both could have drowned,” a law enforcement officer told Castro while escorting her into a vehicle upon her arrest.
The child was placed under the care of authorities.
Authorities said they found five illegal immigrants in Castro’s vehicle and turned them over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
The Rio Grande is seen from Laredo, Texas, U.S., September 19, 2020. Picture taken Sept. 19, 2020. (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas)
Castro is charged with human smuggling and endangering a child.
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