New Netflix Doc Exposes the FLDS Cult's False Prophet
A rare look inside one of America's most secretive religious sects — and the new leader who filled the void after Warren Jeffs
Quick Facts
A new Netflix documentary series, Trust Me: The False Prophet, is set to expose the inner workings of the FLDS cult in Short Creek, Utah, focusing on the power struggle that erupted after Warren Jeffs — the sect's self-proclaimed prophet — was sentenced to life in prison in 2011. The series is expected to arrive on Netflix in 2026.
FLDS and the Fall of Warren Jeffs
The FLDS, short for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has operated for decades as a deeply isolated and rigidly hierarchical cult, centered in the border community of Short Creek, which straddles Utah and Arizona. The group practices polygamy and has long faced accusations of systematic abuse of women and minors.
Warren Jeffs ruled the sect with an iron fist, claiming a direct line to God. He appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list before his arrest in 2006. In 2011, a Texas court sentenced him to life in prison plus a $10,000 fine for sexually abusing underage girls he referred to as his "spiritual wives."
Jeffs' imprisonment left a significant power vacuum within the cult — and it is precisely that vacuum that the new documentary series sets out to examine. religious cults and sect crimes