The Eldorado Success newspaper

Sam Roundy, the former police chief of Colorado City, AZ  told state officials recently that he failed to report numerous cases of sexual abuse to child welfare authorities. Roundy, 50, reportedly declined to admit to practicing polygamy but did acknowledge that he cohabitated with his wife and two companions with whom he had 21 children.

Roundy’s admissions came as part of an ongoing investigation by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board into the Colorado City police department.

AZPOST officials say it is likely Roundy will be decertified when the board next meets on Oct. 19.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard wants the federal government to look into the Colorado City, AZ police department. Saying that he believes that officers in the department have “engaged in practices and conduct that deprives individuals of their constitutional and civil rights,” Goddard last weed asked U.S.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the law enforcement agency.

Much of Goddard’s concern about the C-City department stems from the fact that a number of the department’s officers are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and follow the teachings of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. Goddard believes there is evidence that the C-City police are under church direction and that they are “aiding and abetting criminal activity,” including the practice of polygamy, underage marriages and the expulsion of young men from the community who might compete with the church’s older male followers for young brides.

Jeffs and several of his followers, including Rodney Holm, a former C-City police officer previously convicted of bigamy and sexual conduct with a minor in Utah, were indicted in Mohave County Arizona recently on charges of sexual conduct or conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The charges relate to the marriage of underage girls to older men in the FLDS church. For his part, Jeffs is charged with arranging the marriages and participating in the wedding ceremonies.

Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is proving to be every bit as elusive as he is enigmatic. Law enforcement officials in six western states and at least one Canadian province continue to search for the self-proclaimed prophet. Jeffs is wanted in Arizona on felony charges in connection with his involvement in arranging and officiating over polygamous marriages between underage girls and some of his faithful male followers. He is also wanted on a felony federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Jeffs whereabouts has been in doubt for several months and law enforcement officials from Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Texas met only last week in Mesquite, Nevada to compare notes and share information about the reclusive FLDS leader.

Then came a series of reports that Jeffs had been spotted in Utah and state and federal lawmen mobilized to find and arrest him.