Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, a new Netflix documentary series, looks into the horrifying true stories of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), Warren Jeffs has been the head of the FLDS, a polygamist group that is sometimes confused with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), popularly known as the Mormon Church, since 2002.

After being charged with two charges of sexual contact with a juvenile and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in Arizona, Jeffs was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in 2006.

In 2011, he was convicted guilty of sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault against a child; his two victims were his married children, ages 15 and 12.
Given how many people mistakenly identify Jeffs and the FLDS sect with the LDS faith, it’s no wonder that the Mormon Church has issued a public statement condemning him and his atrocities.
Main: Warren Jeffs observes the proceedings during his trial in St. George, Utah, on September 19, 2007. Jeffs, the former leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is accused of forcing a 14-year-old church member to marry and rape her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. Inset: A still from the Netflix documentary “Keep Sweet: Pray and Pray Again.”

What Does the Mormon Church Have to Say About ‘Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not issued a statement about Netflix’s documentary Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. It has, however, already published a statement on Jeffs.
The LDS church stated it was “misleading and wrong” to equate Jeffs with the Mormon faith when his crimes were made public in 2006.

“Warren Jeffs is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has never been,” they declared in a statement.

Polygamy is a doctrine that the FLDS sect believes males must follow in order to get the highest level of redemption from God in the afterlife. At the time of his arrest in 2011, Jeffs had 78 wives, 24 of them were under the age of 17.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stopped the practise of polygamy in 1890,” the LDS church noted in its statement.
It further claimed that anybody who practises polygamy in the LDS church would be excommunicated, which is considered “the most severe penalty the Church can administer.”