Purported Polygamist Leader Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Children
November 6, 1991

OGDEN, Utah (AP) _ The purported leader of a northern Utah polygamist group pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually abusing four girls under the age of 14.

Arvin Shreeve, 61, pleaded guilty to two counts of sodomy on a child and two counts of sexual abuse of a child. Under a plea bargain, the state agreed not to file additional charges.

″From our standpoint, we get the best of both worlds,″ said Weber County Attorney Reed Richards. ″It keeps (Shreeve) in prison for a long, long time and it keeps the children from having to testify.″

Each sodomy count carries a maximum penalty of life in prison; each sexual abuse count carries a maximum of 15 years. Shreeve was ordered to appear for a sentencing hearing Dec. 23. He remains at home with an electronic ankle bracelet so police can monitor his whereabouts.

On Aug. 2, police raided seven north Ogden homes believed occupied by Shreeve’s 50 to 60 followers and took nine children into custody. Shreeve wasn’t there at the time. He surrendered to police in southern Utah Aug. 9.

Former members of the group have said his followers consider Shreeve a modern-day prophet.

Three female members of the cult also have pleaded innocent to charges of sexually abusing children.

Polygamist leader dies in prison
By Michael Gonda
Published: August 13, 2009 12:00 am

A convicted sex offender and leader of a North Ogden-based polygamous group died at the Utah State Prison.

Arvin Shreeve died at age 79 from natural causes on Monday, prison officials said.

Shreeve was moved to the prison's infirmary from his dorm in the special service unit for sex offenders in mid-July when prison staff determined he was nearing the end of his life.

"They knew he was going to go pretty soon," said Utah Department of Corrections deputy director Mike Haddon.

Shreeve's family was notified that he was moved to the infirmary. His daughter visited him sometime before he died.

Shreeve was the leader of the Zion Community (also called The Sister Program), a sect from a North Ogden subdivision that practiced polygamy, lesbianism and child sexual abuse as tenets of faith.

Shreeve taught a spirituality-through-sexuality doctrine involving children and preyed on divorced women not affiliated with his group.

In the early 1990s, Shreeve was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual offenses involving young girls in his flock.

...cont...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deseretnews.com/article/705323107/Polygamist-leader-dies-in-prison.amp

Lesbianism? Wait, what? I thought these groups were strictly male dominated and heterosexual.

This reminds me of the unprecedented power of religion over seemingly intelligent people. Women seem to be the bigger takers for some reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhD6x23DexI

I do remember Arvin. Mormonism sets the bar pretty high for what is considered acceptable religious nut-baggery, which means the nut bags that go beyond acceptable religious nuttery are way out there: Le Barons, Kinston Clan, David Mitchell, Arvin Shreeve.

Compared to them, Mark Hofmann almost passes as a normal criminal, though he was forging religious documents about salamanders that he was able to sell to leaders of a multi-billion dollar church, and said religious leaders were buying and hiding the salamander letters. When his forgeries started to unravel, he started bombing people to draw suspicion away from himself. As bizarre as all that is, compared to other Utah nut cases (David Mitchell being a prime example), Hofmann is a garden variety crook and con man.

Utah!!!!! God help us. We punch way way above our weight, when it comes to producing religious nut cases.

Edit To Add: OMG, I forgot to put Warren Jeffs and FLDS in my list. Utah is a target-rich environment when it comes to criminal religious nut cases.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2018 09:16PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Do you know Me? Amber-

An interesting take on polygamy by an Indian of British origin, then living in L.A. Many good insights into the practice and beliefs of selected plyg groups that he researched and interviewed in depths, one being the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (TLC), run by James D. Harmston in Manti.

Harmston is a typical plyg cult leader, a charismatic predator who determined that he was the remnant leader of the apostate LDS/Salt Lake Mormons and gathers around himself a bunch of deluded men and wounded, vulnerable women--and their daughters, one being "Angela" (mother) and "Angie" (13 and very pretty), targeted by Harmston himself.

Among Harmston's coterie of women were Laura and Gail, who joined TLC following the incarceration of Arvin Shreeve. These were experienced, predatory women who comfortably merged sex (lesbianism, in their case, or maybe bisexuality?) with a bizarre take on Mormonism. Harmston used them to help groom Angie. He forbid Angie from seeing Angela for disciplinary reasons (Angela was hardly a positive influence by any standards), and moved Angie in with Laura and Gail who reinforced Harmston's "prophecy" that she (Angie) was to be the bearer of a special child. The moment (midnight, literally) Angie turned 16, he married her.

This story has a happy ending. Sanjiv helped free her of the brainwash, and Angie,her two children, Angela, and a few other family members successfully broke off and relocated in California.

"Secrets and Wives" is a good read. Bhattachary explores many dynamnics of polygamy, including that elusive question of whether the leaders actually believe their teachings or are they cynical exploiters? To oversimplify: Some seem to, some don't. My one complaint is that Bhattachary's social liberalism overrides his objective observations: in spite of his extensive documentation of predation, exploitation, deception, psychological damage and spiritual bondage, he sees the parties (except for young girls) as "consenting adults," and believes polygamy should be legalized.

I was in this group, rAPED AS A CHILD BY SHARI, AND ARVIN- AND OTHERS- I went into foster care when it broke up-

Amber, I'm curious as to your position now with regard to religion?

joined. I can't remember her name at this time. Her husband refused to follow her.

She ended up in prison, too. She was from Brigham City. There were several from Brigham City.

I remember helping break up that group. I knew Shari and others from Brigham City who were fooled by Shreveport. I thought he was jailed and would never hurt any more children, but looks like he got out for a second round. Glad he is dead, now, but where have his poor victims ended up? I have always worried.