The True Story Behind Trust Me: The False Prophet

Trust Me: The False Prophet is a four-part docu-series directed by Rachel Dretzin. It’s a shocking yet educational series highlighting the marriages and abuse to minors still taking place in a so-called peaceful religion. The documentary also shows the good people from the church who had to face tough decisions in bringing the abuse to light.

The FLDS church or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is an extremist, breakaway Mormon sect that practises polygamy. They mainly reside in the ‘twin towns’ of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona (known as Short Creek). There have also been some communities living in Texas and South Dakota. The church is led by a prophet, which is why it is often described as a cult. In 2002 Warren Jeffs became the new prophet after the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs.

Netflix released the true crime series Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey back in 2022 and people became intrigued by the FLDS church, and horrified by their teachings.

This four-part documentary showcases Warren Jeffs as the leader of the church, focusing on his abuses of power and how they led to his inevitable incarceration. In this church you live your life through the prophet’s words, meaning its followers were only allowed to get married and have children with the prophet’s blessing.

Jeffs had approximately 80 wives, which he called spiritual marriages. Sources say that around 24 of them were minors at the time they were wed, with some as young as 12 to 15 years old. Jeffs was convicted of sexual assault in 2011.

As these were ‘spiritual marriages’ many of the unions were not legally recognised, but they were considered valid with the FLDS church. Even after Jeffs’ incarceration, the FLDS church continued to follow their prophet and believe in his teachings.

This is where the new documentary comes into play. Cult expert Christine Marie and her husband, videographer Tolga Katas moved to Short Creek after first watching Keep Sweet. They decided to infiltrate the community in order to help the members understand the reality of brainwashing from cults.

When Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison, he told his followers they were not allowed to get married or have babies anymore. Many found this hard as they had been brought up with this sole purpose.

In 2019 Samuel Bateman came in, self-proclaiming he was the new prophet and he began to take control of the FLDS church in Short Creek.

Trust Me: The False Prophet explores his rise to power and how he manipulated his way into the new prophet role. The new series is now available to stream on Netflix.

Words by Nia Hayden