Former 3TV reporter Mike Watkiss featured in new Netflix documentary on Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - It was a story that was largely untold until former 3TV reporter Mike Watkiss pulled back the veil of secrecy surrounding the fundamentalist sect of the Mormon church led by Warren Jeffs. Watkiss’ reports exposed the heinous crimes and abuse of the women living in the small northern Arizona town of Colorado City. Mike joined Good Morning Arizona on Tuesday to discuss his role in the docuseries.

About “Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey”

In 2008, the world’s attention was drawn to the Yearning for Zion Ranch in West Texas, where a dramatic police raid uncovered evidence of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of the religious followers living there and took more than 400 children into custody.

The ranch was home to a secretive, polygamous sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), ruled by Warren Jeffs. Netflix’s documentary explores the horrific existence suffered by many of its residents, including forced underage marriage and pregnancy, incest, and multiple wives to each husband. It hears from some of the brave men and women who escaped the sect and who tell their stories of life under Jeffs’ rule.

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