For years, we've reported on the mysterious enclave of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints near the Utah-Arizona border. We thought we've seen it all. But tonight Gary Tuchman reports on a development that raises new questions about the Church run by jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Gary received a tip that Jeffs, from his prison cell, ordered all schools closed this week so the children could harvest pecans. Gary went to the ranch in question and found hundreds of children in the fields. As soon as he got out of his car, the children all started scattering away from him, and eventually running in the opposite direction.
Gary talked to the owner of a neighboring hog farm, who told him the child labor has gone on for a week or two over a period of years.
"In the past, I've seen them here when it's past dark," said Dorothy Laub. "In the winter, I don't let my kids out when the sun comes down. It's too cold and they're working," she added.
So who runs the pecan farm? And why are these children being taken out of school to work there? Gary went in search for answers, and as you might suspect it wasn't an easy mission. Don't miss his report at 8 and 10 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Update: Watch Gary's report here