Convicted polygamist and child rapist Warren Jeffs is apparently comatose and may be nearing the end of his life.
A source close to ABC News said that the radical polygamist Mormon leader had been fasting for days and doctors were forced to induce a coma. Jeffs is in critical but stable condition, according to the Associated Press.
ABC News reports that he had been on a three day fast prior to the coma.
The 55-year-old convict was reportedly taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler on Sunday night, his attorney, Emily Detoto, told the AP. She also told the AP that he “hadn’t been eating well.”
Earlier this month the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was convicted of sexually assaulting underage followers that he took as brides.
From the AP:
During his trial, prosecutors used DNA evidence to show Jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old and played an audio recording of what they said was him sexually assaulting a 12-year-old. Both were among 24 underage wives who prosecutors said Jeffs collected.
After a jury decided he should serve life in prison, Jeffs was put into protective custody, limiting him to being alone in his cell daily, only going outside for recreation and showers.
Many of Jeffs’ followers revere him as a prophet, and it was expected that the sect would continue to be led by him despite his imprisonment.
