You may remember that Laurie (LeBaron) Allen is the producer & narrator of BANKING ON HEAVEN http://www.bankingonheaven.com/. Many of her reminicences that you hear in the film are about her experiences growing up in a polygamous cult. She was kidnapped at a young age by her uncle Ross W. LeBaron, Jr. and kept as a slave by Ross in Latin America until she escaped at age 16.
Laurie was alienated from Ross' family for the last 18 years, since they considered her an apostate. Although she helped raise many of the children in very harsh conditions (deserts & jungles), she was considered the black sheep. Laurie is currently completing a screenplay and a memoir about her experiences.
When Ross' wife Diana was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago, Laurie was allowed back into their secret world. She has always suspected that her polygamous uncle Ross was fathering his own grandchildren, but nobody would listen.
"I talked to so many relatives about it," Laurie said, "but few believed me." A year
ago, Laurie and three other family members went to law enforcement with their
concerns. The Arizona DA's office decided to pursue the case. Then more family
members became involved, and the result is the explosive document you are about to read.
Dear Family Members,
We now know for a fact that members of our immediate family are involved in
incest. We have been suspicious for years, but believed that incest was
unlikely. However, new and disturbing evidence obligated us to find a
definitive answer; therefore, we conducted DNA testing.
The DNA test proved that our sister's son is without any doubt a product of
incest. His Y chromosome is exactly the same as ours. Given that other
children were born under equally suspicious circumstances, we assume that
these children are products of incest as well. Substantial evidence
indicates, and we are personally convinced, that our dad (Ross Wesley
LeBaron Jr), two of our brothers, and three of our sisters have engaged in
incestuous relations.
We recently confronted these members of our family and although they never
made any direct admissions of incestuous behavior, they did, in fact,
adamantly defend the practice. Also, through a number of statements made to
us, they confirmed our suspicions that our dad and oldest sister have been
engaging in an incestuous relationship for many years.
We tried through reason, logic and scientific research, to persuade them to
end their destructive beliefs and practice. Our efforts were to no avail.
We are left with public exposure as our best hope. We very much dislike
having to take actions against our family, but we believe it is absolutely
necessary to expose them and put an end to this outrageous, immoral, and
destructive conduct.
Our primary goal is to protect our youngest brother and sister, who are in
danger of eventually being compelled to participate in this heinous
lifestyle. It is our sincere hope that we can help and provide them with
the opportunity for a better life.
We hope and pray that our dad, brothers and sisters might come to understand
that their deluded and pernicious philosophy and belief system is simply
unnatural, genetically destructive and immoral, and that they will put an
end to the damage being done to their posterity.
With love sincerely,
Alaric C, LeBaron
David Uri LeBaron
Elend S, LeBaron
I don't know what will happen next, but I will say this....I can only imagine how
hard it must be to admit such a thing in your immediate family. I have seen Laurie
suffer because of this tragedy. This takes real courage. Considering that Ross is
one of the wealthiest polygamists in Utah, I can only hope for the sake of Laurie
and her family that Utah and Arizona law enforcement make speed to reel in this big fish. Ross LeBaron's youngest daughter is 15 years old, and everybody is concerned about her safety.
