Stolen Innocence - Lisa Pulitzer [186]
“What materials were used?”
“Everything had to be approved by Warren Jeffs. We used the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and other discourses or lectures from prophets of the past. Priesthood history was taught every day. As years went on they removed world history and replaced it with doctrine only. Warren rewrote the entire curriculum based around priesthood stories. For instance, in a second-grade reading lesson, a Bible story would be used to teach the reading skills.”
“How much of the teaching was based around Warren Jeffs?”
“At first not much. But later, quite a bit.”
Kassandra corroborated what Teressa and I had said about viewing boys “as snakes” and explained why the school eventually closed as “Doomsday” neared.
“Who had the power to discipline?”
“Warren Jeffs.”
“What was taught to girls about sex?”
“Nothing. Intimacy would be taught to a girl by her husband or parents. At nineteen I had no clue what that was.”
“When did you find out?”
“Rulon Jeffs told me after I was married.”
“Was the word sex ever used?”
“No.”
“What if any term was used?”
“A…‘marriage relationship.’ There was no real term.”
It felt good to hear her words, validating what I’d said. While I’d always known that Kassandra’s experience supported my own, watching her help the case against Warren gave me confidence. I could almost feel the facts sliding into place.
“Are you familiar with the concept of a placement marriage?” the state continued.
“Yes. Girls were to keep bars up our entire lives. Never to let a man touch us or to go on a date. If you were clean and pure, God would tell the prophet. We put our lives in his hands. There was no other way to have a relationship; we couldn’t make those choices.”
Her answers were delivered flawlessly. I sat captivated as she described how people came to be married and what marriage in the FLDS was actually like.
“What was the role of women in a marriage?”
“The greatest thing a woman could become was a mother in Zion, to raise good children that would be loyal to the prophet and never question their priesthood head. After a woman was placed, she would give herself totally to her husband, ‘body, boots, and britches.’ If there was a conflict, you would pray to God to inspire the prophet to solve it, but you could never confront your husband.”
When the attorney asked Kassandra for a description of the term “keep sweet,” she responded, “Even when it hurts, you were to act happy. Even if you’re uncomfortable. That was how you conquered the evil inside of you.”
“What was your reaction when you heard about your sister Elissa Wall’s pending marriage to Allen Steed?”
“Disbelief,” Kassandra answered slowly. “I was horrified.” She described how she and Rachel had gone to Rulon in the hope that he would intercede on my behalf, and how she had instructed me to ask Uncle Fred for two more years.
“Why did you go to Rulon Jeffs?”
“Everyone else who had been confronted with our concerns had been turned down, so I went with Rachel and we explained to Rulon the situation and that our sister was upset. He did not understand the situation. He was confused and looked to Warren Jeffs. He said, ‘She is only fourteen. What the hell is Fred thinking?’ and Warren said, ‘Well, because of who he is, we’d like to honor his request.’ Rulon replied, ‘There should be no rush.’” This was a whole new element that I had no idea ever existed. If this were true, and it was Uncle Fred who had really put this together, then why hadn’t Warren listened to me? He’d been the one person who could have changed it, despite Fred’s supposed insistence.
“After this meeting, how did you feel about your sister’s situation?”
“I was hopeful.”
The questioning shifted to the marriage itself.
“What was Elissa’s emotional state the night before the wedding?”
“She was crying. She didn’t care about the dress. Very emotional and just…sobbing. We took pictures and tried to get her to look happy.”
Kassandra explained that my distress lasted long after those initial days and nights. “In the first few months she became very depressed. I saw her