Whatever happened to Betty Jessop?

[picklepizzas]

First - I am so excited this forum popped up just as I finished Carolyn jessop' Escape and flora jessop's church of lies (thanks to the posters for the excellent recommendations from the babyland thread, btw!)

carolyns daughter Betty returns to the flds when she turns 18 at the end of the book - and i found this incredibly disturbing. does anyone know what ended up happening to her? I know from threads here and Internet searching that she was in the media a lot in 2008, claiming she was happy (but unmarried and basically working as a servant at a construction site). What happened after her father was excommunicated? Does anyone know if she ever got married? The only recent info I could find that mentioned her was from Carolyn jessop's weddingknot site, where she was listed as "unable to attend" the 2015 wedding, which I assume means she is still in the flds. (https://www.theknot.com/us/brian-moroney-and-carolyn-jessop-apr-2015 - awesome to see that the other kids are all out of the flds and doing well, though!)  

wondering if anyone here is better at Google-fu than I am and has any other update on Betty. :/

[NotALoserLikeYou]

She's still in the flds and must not be married, since marriages have not been performed in years there.  Only Warren could perform marriages. Currently new marriages and having children is banned.

[Dollypeeps]

I though there was 12 surpreme men that where ordained to make the babies now and not the husbands  but they got to hold their wives hand during the act or was that scrapped. 

As far as I know Betty is still in FLDS but my Google fu is crap. 

[withaj]

Yep, Betty is still at Short Creek, or I'm sure we would have heard otherwise. ( I believe she was in Texas at YFZ before the raid and closure, along with Merril.)

Speaking of Merril -- wasn't he convicted as well? As far as I'm aware, he never served time. 

[FundieFarmer]

She's still with the FLDS. Triumph gave more info about her, as did this article: http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/ci_11559735

Most recently she was seen at some of the FLDS trials but is speculated to be less "prized child" and more under supervision to make sure she hasn't been tainted by her time away.

Every once in a while I do a search to see if anything new has come up, but nothing after the SLT article.

[DaisyD]

I don't know if the seed bearer thing was scrapped or not, but you're right. Currently, that would be the only way to get pregnant in good standing with the church.

[ADoyle90815]

I was under the impression that the only way for FLDS women to get pregnant and remain in good standing in the cult was to have sex with the few men Jeffs allowed to father children. I would assume that such a thing would only apply to married women, even if their husband wasn't one of those seed bearers.

[HermioneSparrow]

Betty is still into the FLDS very much and Carolyn & kids don't  have much contact with her. I know one of Carolyn's kids through a friend, they're such a great loving family.

[OodOnTheLoo]

Thank you to whomever it was who pointed me to this website.  I am linking all the Betty Jessop links.  What I can gather is that at age 18 she opted to return to the FLDS.  Unfortunately this means she also had to cut all ties to her mom and full siblings.  As far as I can tell she remains unmarried and without children but fully committed to the principle.  

At least she opted for this, at age 18, and has an easy out should she ever need it.  

 

http://politicsrusprinciple.tumblr.com/tagged/betty-jessop

[theinvisiblegirl]

She was featured on Oprah one time, when Oprah went into one of the groups to talk to the people and the kids. I'd love for her to do another Where Are They Now? episode that includes Betty, just for some kind of update - though I'm sure the FLDS won't let her do it. I always felt ill that Betty went back, and I, too, do searches from time to time for any mention of her. I'm always disappointed to find no new answers about how she is.

I'm friends with Carolyn Jessop on Facebook (sent the request once on a whim years ago and was surprised to be accepted), but she doesn't use the site all that much. I've seen people ask about Betty before, but she hasn't said anything. I've never asked because I imagine it's painful for her to talk about.

[BobTheWalrus]

On 15/05/2016 at 3:24 AM, withaj said:

Yep, Betty is still at Short Creek, or I'm sure we would have heard otherwise. ( I believe she was in Texas at YFZ before the raid and closure, along with Merril.)

Speaking of Merril -- wasn't he convicted as well? As far as I'm aware, he never served time. 

He was convicted, and I think he got a 10 year sentence. Not sure where he's at now though.

[faraway]

On 14. Mai 2016 at 10:00 PM, Dollypeeps said:

I though there was 12 surpreme men that where ordained to make the babies now and not the husbands  but they got to hold their wives hand during the act or was that scrapped. 

They keep mentioning that on Escaping Polygamy, but I would love more details on that rule and what members actually think about it. That is just too crazy to believe.

[MamaJunebug]

Sounds like the practice in "The Handmaid's Tale," where the Handmaid laid her head on the wife's abdomen while the husband did the deed (with the Handmaid).

[paganbaby]

On 9/9/2016 at 6:40 PM, BobTheWalrus said:

He was convicted, and I think he got a 10 year sentence. Not sure where he's at now though.

The latest info I could find is he was paroled last year. I believe Warren kicked him out, and I don't know where he is. His horrible favorite wife Barbara died, and I don't know if Betty or anyone else stuck by him.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2163850-155/polygamist-who-officiated-wedding-of-12-year-old

 

[BobTheWalrus]

6 hours ago, paganbaby said:

The latest info I could find is he was paroled last year. I believe Warren kicked him out, and I don't know where he is. His horrible favorite wife Barbara died, and I don't know if Betty or anyone else stuck by him.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2163850-155/polygamist-who-officiated-wedding-of-12-year-old

 

Oh, I saw that, but I wasn't sure if it was him?! It's about Frederick Merril Jessop, and I was confused as to whether that's him and he just goes by his middle name, or if this is another guy. They seem to pick from such a limited pool of names!!

[paganbaby]

10 hours ago, BobTheWalrus said:

Oh, I saw that, but I wasn't sure if it was him?! It's about Frederick Merril Jessop, and I was confused as to whether that's him and he just goes by his middle name, or if this is another guy. They seem to pick from such a limited pool of names!!

As others have said, they have family wreaths, not family trees. It's the same Merril, Betty's father. The details all match, including the two daughters married to Warren. One was the favorite wife Naomie. The other was the 12-year-old, Merrianne. She's the one who figured in the audio recording they played in court of Warren raping her.

I think Merrianne was the only child actually removed from parental custody as a result of the YFZ raid. Per Carolyn Jessop, Merrianne's mother Barbara fought the order, and when she lost, Barbara actually asked CPS if she could give them someone else's daughter instead! As if CPS was just out to seize a random girl, not to protect a particular child whose abuses were well documented. And the upshot was Merrianne just went to live with another relative, also FLDS. Disgusting, as are most details about this sect.