Escape

Archival Summary & Scope

Carolyn Jessop's *Escape* is a harrowing first-person account of life within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a radical offshoot of the Mormon Church.

Born and raised in the FLDS, Jessop was coerced at age 18 into a plural marriage with a man 32 years her senior, who already had three wives. Over 15 years, she endured psychological abuse, strict control, and bore eight children, all while contemplating an impossible escape.

In 2003, with only $20 and facing unprecedented odds, Jessop risked everything to flee with her eight children. No woman had ever successfully left the FLDS with her children before.

Her groundbreaking flight not only exposed the oppressive "prison camp" world of the FLDS but also made history: Jessop became the first woman granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the sect, and her testimony was crucial to the 2006 arrest of notorious FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.