Deceived: An Investigative Memoir of the Zion Society Cult

In 1991, a young woman came forward to the Weber County Attorney's Office in Ogden, Utah, disclosing her involvement in a religious cult engaged in child sexual abuse. Her confession led to the rescue of 32 children and became the largest and most successfully prosecuted ritual sex abuse case in Utah. Following extensive investigation, 70 police officers and social workers executed search and arrest warrants on the community. Officers discovered stockpiled weapons, pharmaceuticals, food storage, and evidence of sexual instruction and abuse. The cult's leader was captured days later and confessed to the assaults. Eleven additional cult members were subsequently indicted, with the group committing over 750 felony crimes of child sexual assault. Over decades, the author tracked cult members as they moved between polygamist groups. As predators were released from the correctional system, the self-proclaimed prophet died in prison. Thirty years after the initial prosecution, the author documents the cult's leadership, how they recruited followers, and the stories of victims who overcame the abuse and reunited 29 years later.