What happened to Warren Jeffs? Cult leader's crimes revisited ahead of Netflix docuseries Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey 

Narrating the tale of self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs' polygamous cult, Netflix's upcoming docuseries, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, will examine the extremist wing of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), with Jeffs at the center of it.

During his reign as a religious dictator, Jeffs was married to 78 wives, 24 of whom were minors at the time. Helmed by Emmy Award recipient and creator of Who Killed Malcolm X? Rachel Dretzin, producer and creator of Slay the Dragon Grace McNally, along with executive producers Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Miura Kite, Zachary Herrmann, and Alison Dammann, Keep Sweet will drop on Netflix this Wednesday, June 8, 2022.

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What happened to Warren Jeffs?

Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet and polygamist cult leader, was found guilty of child molestation on two accounts by a Texas jury in 2011. A court sentenced the leader, who is now 63 years old, to life in prison a few weeks later, putting a stop to decades of cruelty and horror that had devastated the lives of numerous young people.

During a 2008 search on the polygamist ranch, investigators uncovered more than 700 pieces of evidence, including marriage certificates, a daily summary of leader Warren Jeffs' activities, and a horrifying audio tape prosecutors said caught the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old minor bride.

Reportedly, Jeffs was charged with sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault, respectively, in connection with his weddings to two young girls who were 12 and 14 years old at the time of their marriage. Over 400 children were saved and placed in protective custody. Keep Sweet is a four-part documentary series that offers authentic and original archive material and personal accounts from some of the survivors.

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More about Netflix's Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

More than a decade ago, at the Yearning for Zion Ranch in West Texas, police and law enforcement officers discovered horrifying evidence of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. More than 400 children were taken into custody due to the inquiry. Self-declared prophet and FLDS leader Warren Jeffs has been the subject of Netflix's upcoming true-crime documentary series, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey.

The accused and alleged leader of the polygamist cult, Jeffs, had 78 wives, with 24 of them being minors. Women were compelled into marriage and childbearing because the group thought that having more children would help them get to heaven. Jeff was able to dominate the multi-million dollar church because of his lifelong brainwashing and dread.

The synopsis of the upcoming docuseries is:

"From forced underage marriage and pregnancy to a complete unraveling into an oppressive criminal cult under Warren Jeffs’ rule, the story uncovers extraordinary bravery battling tyrannical control in modern America."

Jeffs' despotic criminal cult is examined in Keep Sweet and the incredible bravery of people who defied tyranny in modern-day America.

While talking about the upcoming true-crime limited series, filmmaker Dretzin said,

"The women in our series managed to leave the FLDS with no real education or skills, no money, no support whatsoever."

She added,

"For their whole lives, they had been valued solely as plural wives and as breeders of children. To leave meant saying goodbye to everything and everyone they loved to start over in a society they didn’t understand. ‘Badass’ doesn’t begin to describe how fierce they are. I am proud to be connected to them and grateful to have had the opportunity to tell their story."

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Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey premieres on Netflix this Wednesday, June 8, 2022.