Brent W. Jeffs

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Brent W. Jeffs is an American author, advocate, and former member of the FLDS Church. He co-wrote the memoir Lost Boy with Maia Szalavitz, published on May 19, 2009. The book describes life inside the FLDS and Brent’s isolation from the group at a young age. The term "lost boys" refers to many young men expelled from the FLDS.

Brent is the grandson of FLDS prophet Rulon Jeffs and the nephew of Warren Jeffs and Lyle Jeffs. His mother is the daughter of another prophet who was not part of the FLDS. He was born to Ward Jeffs, Rulon’s son, who had three wives, two of them sisters. Brent has nineteen siblings. Ward left the church, but Brent remained in the FLDS community for a time at his own request.

Later, Brent left the FLDS compound and lived in a small apartment with four older brothers, where they drank and used drugs and partied. In 2004, he named Warren Jeffs as the abuser in a civil lawsuit seeking damages for sexual abuse he had endured as a boy. Lost Boy details abuse he suffered starting at ages five or six, as well as abuse from Warren’s brothers and other family members.

Brent has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and on TV shows such as Polygamy: What Love Is This?, Hannity, and Dr. Phil, discussing the dangers of the FLDS lifestyle and the abuse he faced. Since the memoir, Brent has married and had a daughter, and they live in Salt Lake City, Utah.