Jailed leader resumes control of church

SAN ANGELO, Texas, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Polygamist Warren Jeffs has retaken control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from a Texas jail cell, former church members say.

Jeffs, the self-professed prophet of the polygamy-practicing splinter group based on the Arizona-Utah state line, filed documents with the Utah Department of Commerce naming himself president and sole leader of the group, The Arizona Republic reported Thursday.

The FLDS church is not connected with mainstream Mormonism, whose members no longer practice polygamy. The Salt Lake Tribune said Jeffs is in a Texas jail awaiting trial on sexual assault and bigamy charges.

A 2007 Utah conviction on charges of rape as an accomplice was overturned and last year he was extradited to Texas, from where he has reportedly been giving sermons via telephone.

Jeffs resigned as corporation president after his Utah conviction and church member Wendell Nielson took control. The Arizona Republic said Utah records indicate Nielson resigned from his position last month.

"It looks like Warren is taking power back," said Carolyn Jessop, a former member who now lives in Salt Lake City and maintains contact with sect members. "It changes everything. He had indirect access before. Now, instead of people managing everything in the name of Warren, he's managing in his own name."

Many of the group's members live in the twin communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah.