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Seth Jeffs is on the move again.
Seth Jeffs, a leader of the FLDS, an offshoot group of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who believe in child brides and that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, purchased 80 acres of secluded property in rural Menomonie, Wisconsin and has been building on the property.
In December 2018, Seth, as the “Managing Member” of Emerald Industries LLC, bought 40 acres of property just off Pike Lake Road with the hopes of building a 5,760-square-foot pole barn complete with living quarters. To date, all he has done is push in a 900-foot-long road and tried to level and clear some ground with heavy equipment, but he didn’t have permits for this work.
In early July 2019, Cook County placed a temporary cease and desist order on Jeffs, asking him to halt construction on his 40-acre Pike Lake property after they noted 13 violations to his permit.
The order came from Cook County Land Services after they conducted a site visit to the property.
Later that year, Cook County Land Director Tim Nelson said, “Mr. Jeff’s permits expired in December of 2019 without any attempt on his part to extend the timeline. So if he wanted to construct any structures, he would now have to start all over again and re-submit for any (and all) new permits.”
In 2020 a South Dakota TV station, KELO-TV, reported that Seth Jeff’s 140-acre property in Pringle, near the Black Hills, would be sold at an auction on February 25 at the Custer County Courthouse, causing the FDLS to forfeit on a $1.6 million loan.
In Wisconsin, WQOW News reported on April 5, 2023, that neighbors were worried about Jeffs, noting he wouldn’t make eye contact and was building on the property, which he has zoning permits for, but “has never applied for building permits.”
Who is Seth Jeffs?
In 2022 Netflix did a documentary on the FDLS called “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” featuring Seth Jeffs.
Seth is the brother of the disgraced polygamist and prophet Warren Steed Jeffs, the President of the FLDS Church, who is serving life in prison after he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault.
In 2006, Seth was accused of harboring or concealing his brother Warren, and in 2016 he pleaded guilty to a multi-million dollar food stamp fraud.
In 2017, Seth’s brother Lyle Jeffs was sentenced to prison for his role in the same food stamp fraud case and for leaving home confinement while he was on trial. Seth is believed to be the leader of the FDLS group left behind by Warren.
What about the FDLS Church?
The FLDS church broke away from the Mormon Church in 1898, so they could continue practicing polygamy, where older men often marry young girls. The main branch was located in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, known as Short Creek. Under the sect’s rules, women are assigned to marry men, keep their hair in a bun, and wear prairie dresses that drape to their ankles.
When Warren Jeffs took over, he banned contact with the outside world, split families up, took young girls for his brides, and excommunicated young men from the church. He was arrested and convicted of sexually assaulting girls aged 12 and 14. He called them his “spiritual wives.”
When Warren was convicted, it was estimated that he had married 80 women and girls. It is not known how many wives Seth has.
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