Former member of polygamist Mormon cult FLDS reveals how she was left to raise more than 20 CHILDREN by herself after her husband and his four other 'plural wives' were ripped from their home as part of a 'purge' of 'sinners'

Ceci Hendrickson recently appeared on the Cults To Consciousness podcastShe grew up as part of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints Church in UtahHer family was torn apart at the hands of self-appointed leader Warren Jeffs

A former FLDS member has revealed how she was abandoned by her husband and his four other ‘plural wives’ after they were forced out of the cult – leaving more than 20 children behind inside the polygamist sect.

Ceci Hendrickson appeared on a recent episode of the Cults To Consciousness podcast to discuss her experience living within the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints Church (FLDS) in Utah.

FLDS was a break away group which branched off from the original Mormon church when the mainstream religion ceased practicing polygamy.

Ceci candidly laid bare the ‘traumatic’ experience of having her family torn apart at the hands of former self-appointed leader Warren Jeffs.

Ceci Hendrickson appeared on a recent episode of the Cults To Consciousness podcast to discuss her experience as part of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints Church (FLDS)

Ceci (left) candidly told to host Shelise Ann Sola (right) about the ‘traumatic’ experience of having her family torn apart at the hands of former self-appointed leader Warren Jeffs

Ceci began by explaining to host Shelise Ann Sola how she grew up as part of FLDS under the reign of Rulon Jeffs before son Warren – who is now in prison for child sexual assault – took over when she was just 12.

‘When Rulon Jeffs was the prophet, there were rules in the ways of how you dress, how you would carry yourself as a FLDS member and the beliefs were very similar to the Mormon church.

‘But the things that changed were Warren Jeffs becomes the prophet and then all of sudden instead of just wearing a dress, it was a dress with very specific collars cuffs it had to be a certain length, the women had to wear their hair styled a certain way, you had to go to bed at a certain certain time, be up at a certain time.

‘The rules that they had went from almost reasonable… to extreme. Every moment of your day was planned out for you.’

Ceci was prepared for marriage from 13 years old and admitted that even though it was her ‘normal’ she had ‘always been kind of a wild spirit.’

But she fought back her rebelliousness for the sake of her family and said she had seen other people break away from the church unsuccessfully.

‘I watched many, many people leave and then become drug addicts or end up on the street with the wrong people and I didn’t want that,’ Ceci explained.

‘That was a big fear if I leave that could be what my life looks like – going from a comfortable home, even though I don’t exactly love it here with the dynamic that I was dealing with, but I would take that over going out and living on the street.

Ceci was prepared for marriage from 13 years old and admitted that even though it was her ‘normal’ she had ‘always been kind of a wild spirit’

Ceci grew up as part of FLDS under the reign of Rulon Jeffs before son Warren (pictured together) – who is now in prison for child sexual assault – took over when she was just 12

Ceci said that she ‘poured her whole heart and soul into becoming wife worthy’ before marrying an ‘assigned partner’ at 16 years old

‘And if that meant that I had to be married and given to someone that already had a wife… I took what made sense to me as to be the safest option.’

Ceci said that she ‘poured her whole heart and soul into becoming wife worthy’ before marrying an ‘assigned partner’ at 16 years old.

She became the second wife to a man 19 years her senior, who already had five children with his first partner.

‘I loved him but I never was in love with him and a big part of that reason was to do with the fact that a lot of men from the FLDS aren’t able to to emotionally connect,’ she explained.

Ceci got pregnant five months after tying the knot and went on to welcome three more kids with her husband while also juggling the jealousy of becoming just one of five women he married.

‘The only way to really survive – because that’s really all you’re doing is surviving – is to just make friends with the people that you live with even if you don’t totally get along.

‘At some point you just have to be like okay we live here in this house together, we have kids that we’re raising together.’

She continued: ‘Every woman that came had their own set of children… the family just gets bigger and bigger by the time our family was the size it was when I left we had 20 something – I don’t even remember the exact number – children under one roof…

‘There’s just nothing easy about providing and and taking care of that many children.’

During Warren’s time at the helm, he began sending people away from the group for ‘various reasons’ which tore families apart.

‘It happened very quickly… our family was one of the first to have that happen to them.

‘It was just a random weekday and all of a sudden all the women and my ex got into a vehicle and just left.

‘I’m just sitting there – they didn’t ever do that without being like “we’re running to the store” or this or that.

‘I was actually scared s**tless at the time because I thought maybe they were going to get church blessings of some kind and I was being left behind…

‘I was super stressed out going over everything that had happened over the past few months wondering what I had done to create this situation where I wasn’t involved in what they’re doing.’

In 2011, Warren Jeffs was sent away for life after he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault for having sex with two girls aged 12 and 14

She continued: ‘But when they came back later that day then my ex pulled me aside and said we need to talk…

‘He just broke down and was sobbing and he could barely even get the words out.

‘He said, “I’m losing my family, I’m losing everything, I have to be gone by tonight and all I can take is what I need to survive.”

‘Then he told me the exact words that were said to him and one of the phrases was, “You need to leave and go far away to repent and never come back.”

‘He said, “And all the other wives have to come with me – you are the only one that can stay.”‘

Ceci branded it as a ‘traumatic and emotional day for everyone,’ adding: ‘Everyone was just wailing in tears because they had to leave their children behind.’

She said that the children of the other four wives were distributed among relatives before Ceci moved back in with her father’s family with her own four kids.

‘It was just this huge purge of people that left hundreds and thousands of children parentless,’ the mom said.

Ceci eventually moved out to an apartment an hour away from the community and fell pregnant again with a man she had been dating who subsequently turned his back on her.

‘I thought I would have support with my four children and being pregnant but that fell out from underneath me.

‘The church obviously at that point was like you’re on your own and they came picked my kids up and I became homeless at that point.’

Ceci was separated from her kids for more than a year before eventually saving up the resources to be able to return and get them back.

She has since remarried, welcomed further kids with her new husband and started her own clothing line.

In 2011, Warren Jeffs was sent away for life after he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault for having sex with two girls aged 12 and 14.

He is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years for the charges, however, it has previously been reported that he has continued to preach to FLDS’ remaining members from his prison cell.

As of 2018, the Guardian reported that there were still around 10,000 active members of the church.