Cult leader who promoted child marriage is sentenced

AP

AUGUST 11, 2018

The Utah man pleaded guilty to sodomy and child bigamy charges.

MANTI, Utah - A self-styled prophet who helped lead a Utah doomsday cult that believed in polygamy and promoted child marriage remained defiant Wednesday as he was sent to prison for at least 25 years.

John Coltharp, 35, told a judge he was following "heavenly laws" and was an Old Testament figure returned to Earth to promote child marriage, the Deseret News reported.

He maintained that it doesn't matter how long he goes to prison because society won't last much longer.
Judge Marvin Bagley told Coltharp his beliefs are wrong and don't come from the Bible. He said he hopes Coltharp is never released from prison.

Coltharp pleaded guilty to sodomy and child bigamy charges in June. He could spend life in prison as he waits for a parole board to determine a possible release date.
Coltharp and Samuel W. Shaffer, 34, formed a group called the Knights of the Crystal Blade based on arcane Mormon ideas abandoned by the mainstream church, authorities said. Both men held the title of prophet at different points and each secretly married two young girls, according to prosecutors. The girls were related to the men.

Deputies discovered the four girls in barrels and a trailer on a compound of shipping containers in the Utah desert in December 2017. A mother of two of the girls had reported them missing along with two of her sons. The men took the children to the compound in preparation for an apocalypse.

http://www.readingeagle.com/life/article/cult-leader-who-promoted-child-marriage-is-sentenced

Third Man Accused of Child Marriage in Utah Sex Cult

Knights of the Crystal Blade men charged with rape and assault after allegedly marrying each others' young daughters.

Bryn Lovitt
Rolling Stone
June 11, 2018

In Utah, the Knights of Crystal Blade – a radical, fundamentalist Mormon offshoot – is under investigation for the abduction and assault of underage child brides. Authorities have charged Robert Shane Rowe – a man from California who was allegedly promised a child bride – with one count of child sodomy. Last December, an unbelievable kidnapping bust exposed the cult's founding members, 34-year-old Samuel "the Seer" Schaffer and follower John Coltharp, also 34, for not only kidnapping their own children, but "marrying them off" between the two. Now there appears to have been a third adult involved.

The investigation began after Coltharp's ex-wife, Micha Soble, went to the police claiming her former husband had kidnapped their children. The cops issued a statewide Amber alert, which led to the raid of a derelict compound just outside the small town of Lund, Utah. There, Schaffer and Coltharp allegedly had hidden their four daughters inside of freezing, 50-gallon water barrels. Initially, it was believed that Schaffer and Coltharp were the only members of the group involved in the abuse charges, which include multiple counts of child rape and sexual assault. However, as Prosecutor Kevin Daniels pointed out, the alleged involvement of Robert Shane Roe from California suggests the Schaffer and Coltharp were actively recruiting more members into the fold.

Shortly after Roe connected with Coltharp and Schaffer over social media, according to a statement Daniels made to The Salt Lake Tribune, he was encouraged to come to Utah for a baptism and promised Schaffer's five-year-old daughter as a child bride. The victim only recently came forward with the alleged abuse, which, via statement from prosecutor and Sanpete County attorney Kevin Daniels, played out similarly to previous charges. "Like two of the other individuals involved in Knights of the Crystal Blade," Daniel told KSLTV, "[Roe] has committed sexual acts upon children, under the auspices of marriage."

According to The Denver Post, Schaffer and Coltharp, are both former members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and adhere to an extreme belief in polygamy as well as an imminent doomsday. Newsweek reported that the two men met in a Facebook group lamenting the LDS's 1890 decision to ban polygamy, and from there created a now-defunct online forum outlining Schaffer's prophetic visions, including an apocalyptic Muslim attack.

Soble, Coltharp's ex-wife, told The Denver Post that her husband had previously expressed a desire to "live off the grid," and moved the family to Spring County, Utah, where he and Schaffer could build a compound in preparation for the end of the world. The "compound," however, described in a signed affidavit as "deplorable," was little more than a remote sprawl of abandoned trailers and shipping containers out in the desert.

Since September of last year and up until the raid, Coltharp left the couple's four children there in a double-wide trailer with his parents, an older couple who, despite the unlivable conditions including subzero temperatures at night, believed heavily in the practice of alternative medicine, Soble told The Denver Post. While Coltharp's two sons and their grandparents were spotted as soon as dogs and helicopters touched down on the compound, the daughters were nowhere to be found.

Both Coltharp and Schaffer managed to evade the search for several hours until an anonymous tipster claimed to have seen Schaffer walking several miles outside the compound. Once arrested, Schaffer told authorities where to find two of the four underage girls in the barrels, though he was reluctant to give up the remaining two's location. Ultimately, they were found hidden and lethargic in yet another trailer several miles away. Coltharp, however, was arrested at his home under suspicion of custodial interference and brought in for questioning, his children still at the compound.

The girls, all four under 10 years old, were rescued and flown to area hospitals as police charged their fathers with first-degree felony rape of a child, second-degree felony count of child abuse, obstruction of justice, child kidnapping, and in a surprising first for the state of Utah – home to notorious polygamist ringleaders like Warren Jeffs – child bygamy.

Schaffer entered a guilty plea in February and was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. Coltharp faces trial next month for lewdness with a child, obstruction of justice and child bygamy. The trial will pick up on July 9th. Roe also faced a count of child sodomy, which carries the possibility of life in jail. As of Monday afternoon he is not yet in custody, though there is a warrant out for his arrest.

"These are extreme individuals with extreme beliefs that believe the end of the world is coming," Daniels told the Idaho State Journal. It was the police who raided the compound who "prevented those little girls from dying. Or repeating a Waco-style shootout."

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/third-man-accused-of-child-marriage-in-utah-sex-cult-w521399

Doomsday cult leader in central Utah pleads guilty to child bigamy, sodomy charges

BEN WINSLOW
FOX 13 News
June 13, 2018


MANTI, Utah — The leader of a doomsday cult in central Utah has struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

John Alvin Coltharp, 34, pleaded guilty to felony charges of child bigamy and sodomy. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed charges of kidnapping and obstruction of justice.

“I plead guilty,” Coltharp told the judge to both charges.

Prosecutors allege Coltharp is a member of the “Knights of the Crystal Blade,” a small apocalyptic-based group near Spring City with about a half-dozen members.

It has been a long and strange trip to get to trial. Coltharp previously refused to plead. His attorney said Coltharp cited religious beliefs that prevented him from saying the word “guilty.” During a hearing last month, he tried to fire his lawyer and demanded to meet with the Sanpete County Attorney to explain his faith.

A co-defendant, Samuel Shaffer, still faces sex abuse and child bigamy charges in Manti. He was sentenced to 26 years-to-life in prison in Cedar City last month on charges of child rape and child abuse.

The case stems from an AMBER Alert issued in December for four children reported missing in central Utah. Police found two of the children in a mobile home west of Cedar City, and the other two hiding in empty water barrels with temperatures dipping near freezing. Iron County prosecutors allege the children likely would have died in those conditions.

After he was arrested, Shaffer told Iron County Sheriff’s deputies he was “betrothed” to Coltharp’s 8-year-old daughter. Shaffer also told police Coltharp was married to his 7-year-old daughter.

Sanpete County prosecutors recently filed a felony charge against another member of the Knights of the Crystal Blade. Robert Roe, 35, was charged with first-degree felony sodomy on a child. Daniels alleges Roe took a 5-year-old girl as a bride.

Roe has made arrangements to surrender to authorities and is due in court later this month, Daniels said.

http://fox13now.com/2018/06/13/doomsday-cult-leader-in-central-utah-pleads-guilty-to-child-bigamy-sodomy-charges/

Doomsday cult 'prophet' pleads guilty to sexually abusing child he married

Bree Burkitt
St. George Daily Spectrum
February 21, 2018

The former self-proclaimed prophet of the Knights of the Crystal Blade pleaded guilty to marrying and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl in Southern Utah.

Samuel Warren Shaffer, 34, was charged with first-degree felony rape of a child and one second-degree felony count of child abuse. His plea acknowledges he had engaged in a sexual act with the underage daughter of a fellow member of the Iron County-based religious sect.

The first-degree felony alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in the Utah State Prison, while the child-abuse charges carries an addition one to 15 years. The judge can choose to order the sentences to be served consecutively or concurrently. 

The plea deal was vital to prevent the child victims from having to testify, Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett explained.

"We're ecstatic about this plea, not only to hold him accountable with a 25 to life sentence, but also to protect the child from being revictimized."

Deputy Iron County Attorney Mike Edwards said Shaffer could face additional charges if child pornography is found on a computer currently being searched by law enforcement.

A pre-sentence investigation report will be completed prior to his sentencing on April 10.
Child brides

The Beryl man told an Iron County sheriff's investigator he had married John Alvin Coltharp’s underage daughter, according to a search warrant. Coltharp, a fellow sect member, had also allegedly married Shaffer’s 7-year-old daughter. Court documents state Shaffer had physically inspected the girl's genitals to determine if she was a virgin.

Shaffer was the original prophet of the small fundamentalist Mormon religious group. He told investigators in December that he had passed the prophecy on to Coltharp, who is currently being held in Sanpete County on charges of kidnapping and sodomy of a child.

He outlined his beliefs in writings, podcasts and videos hosted on a website titled “The Kingdom of God or Nothing.” Shaffer asserted that his beliefs, including supporting plural marriage and child unions, were handed down to him by God directly on June 22, 2015.

New search warrants recently unsealed in 6th District Court reveal police had expected to find a notebook detailing their plans to kidnap even more children as they prepared for the impending end of the world.

"John and Sam both believed that the end of the world was near," according to the warrant. "Also expected in the recorded notes or revelations is the plan by John and Sam to abduct more family children about the time of the anticipated Muslim invasion of the United States, which was imminent."

Shaffer is still facing two counts of first-degree felony sodomy of a child in Sanpete County. He's also charged with one count of obstructing justice in addition to child bigamy, both second-degree felonies.

Coltharp was arrested at his home by Spring City police Dec. 1 after he allegedly failed to turn over his four children to his ex-wife, who had been awarded full custody of their two daughters and two sons in November. He told investigators the children were in the care of Shaffer, but refused to revealed where they were.

Shaffer's father, James Shaffer, was recently charged with obstructing justice after being accused of lying to police about having Coltharp's children hidden in his Spring City home.

A statewide Amber Alert was issued Dec. 5 after the Iron County Sheriff's Office raided a compound belonging to Coltharp approximately one mile west of Lund. The grandparents of Coltharp’s children and the two boys were found living in a makeshift residence composed of storage containers on the compound. They told authorities the girls had spent the night with Shaffer in a tent on the property. He had last been seen leaving the area on foot the day before.

A witness later spotted Shaffer walking alone on a dirt road several miles west of the compound. He was taken into custody without incident shortly after before telling law enforcement where Coltharp’s two daughter and his own biological daughters were hidden. Two of the children were found hiding in a blue plastic 50-gallon water barrel. Shaffer told investigators he had placed the children in the water barrel an estimated 24 hours earlier to hide them from searching law enforcement, the probable cause statement said.

The other two females were hidden separately in an abandoned single-wide mobile home in “deplorable conditions” approximately five miles away from the property, the report detailed. The mobile home appeared to be primarily used for storage and was not equipped for living.

All four females were transported by helicopter to the Cedar City Hospital after the rescue. One of Shaffer’s daughter was flown by Life Flight helicopter to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake.

Bree Burkitt is the Cedar City reporter for The Spectrum & Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @BreeBurkitt, or call her at 435-218-2241.

http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/local/cedar-city/2018/02/21/doomsday-cult-prophet-pleads-guilty-sexually-abusing-child-he-married/358090002/

Leader of self-proclaimed religious group refuses plea bargain

Marcos Ortiz 
News4Utah
February 21, 2018

MANTI,Utah (News4Utah) - John Coltharp will not accept a plea offer.

Coltharp is a self-proclaimed leader of a religious group, the Knights of the Crystal Blade.  But he is facing charges of child sex abuse, child abuse and bigamy.

Coltharp was arrested in December following an Amber Alert.  He and his second in command Samuel Shaffer are accused of hiding their daughters in a storage container in Iron County.  They are both involved in divorces and did not return their daughters to their mothers.  Both men are accused of marrying each other’s daughter as well as marrying their own daughters as part of their religious beliefs according to authorities.

Wednesday, Coltharp appeared in Sanpete County hours after Shaffer pleaded guilty to related crimes in Iron County.  The county attorney in Sanpete said Coltharp was aware of Shaffer’s admission of guilt.

But during Wednesday hearing, the judge was made aware of a plea offer for Coltharp. 

He told the judge he refused the deal.

“Yes that is accurate (that he waived his preliminary hearing),” Coltharp said in court. “There is no point in holding a preliminary hearing.  The chance it not being bound over for trial is obviously zero.  So I don't want to waste everybody's time.  I am not interested in taking a plea deal right now.”

The deal that fell through would have Coltharp pleading guilty to a first-degree felony related to the child sex charges.

The Sanpete County attorney said his offer is firm.

“I have a certain thing that I want out of this case,” said Kevin Daniels.  “(One) that I believe the children will be well served by justice and that they spend a long time in prison."

Daniels said if Coltharp is holding out for a better offer it will not happen.  He said his offer requires Coltharp to serve a 25-years to life in prison.

Shaffer was also charged in Sanpete County and will return for a hearing in March.  Coltharp is also scheduled for another hearing in late March.

http://www.good4utah.com/southern-utah/leader-of-self-proclaimed-religious-group-refuses-plea-bargain/985551981

Former cult leader pleads guilty to child rape

Lauren Matthias

News4Utah
February 21, 2018

CEDAR CITY (News4Utah) - A former cult leader accused of taking a child bride pleaded guilty to child rape and child abuse.

Samuel Warren Shaffer appeared in court Wednesday. He faces 25 years to life in prison for child rape and 15 years for child abuse.

"Well, I think this is a great outcome for the State of Utah, for the victims in this case. It's the maximum sentence allowed under law for this offense," said Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett.

Authorities say Shaffer, along with fellow cult leader John Coltharp, claimed to lead a self-proclaimed religious group called Knights of the Crystal Blade. The two men are accused of kidnapping their own children, who were rescued by authorities in December after an Amber Alert was issued.

Authorities say Shaffer and Coltharp married each others 7 and 8-year-old daughters

"The main driving force behind this, or in accepting this plea deal, was Mr. Shaffer's concern for the children, putting them through any other harm or any re-victimization," said Troy Sundquist, Iron County Public Defender.

Shaffer's sentencing is scheduled for April 10. Additional charges could be filed.

http://www.good4utah.com/news/southern-utah/former-cult-leader-pleads-guilty-to-child-rape/985341292

Alleged doomsday cult members face even more charges

Pat Reavy
Deseret News
January 31, 2018

SALT LAKE CITY — Two purported members of a doomsday sect in southern Utah have been charged with more crimes.

Amended charges were filed Tuesday against Samuel Warren Shaffer, 34, of Cedar City, and John Alvin Coltharp, 34, of Spring City. Both men now face child bigamy charges.

Shaffer was charged with conspiracy to commit child bigamy, a second-degree felony. He was previously charged in 6th District Court with two counts of sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor. He is also charged with two counts of child kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and four counts of intentional child abuse causing injury, a second-degree felony.

Colthrap is now charged with child bigamy, a second-degree felony, in addition to sodomy of a child, a first-degree felony, in one case; and child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; and obstructing justice by concealing a person, a class A misdemeanor, in another.

Court documents say Shaffer — the alleged leader of a religious group, the Knights of the Crystal Blade — and Coltharp, one of his followers, "married" each other's underage daughters.

According to the new amended charges, on or about July 1, 2017, Shaffer "knowing he had a wife, did knowingly and willingly purport to marry a person under 18 years of age," while Shaffer agreed "to engage in" child bigamy.

Both men were arrested in December after Coltharp's ex-wife hadn't heard from him or her children for weeks, prompting a search by authorities. They were found in a remote area of northern Iron County living in a "compound," that consisted mainly of storage units, according to police. Coltharp's two girls were found hidden in a plastic 50-gallon water barrel that Shaffer had made them stay in for at least 24 hours in subfreezing temperatures, charging documents state.

Shaffer's two daughters were also found "in poor health" in an abandoned mobile home "in deplorable living conditions," charges state.

Shaffer told police he was "betrothed" to Coltharp's 8-year-old daughter, according to a search warrant. Additionally, Shaffer allegedly said Coltharp was "betrothed" to Shaffer's 7-year-old daughter.

Coltharp's ex-wife described Shaffer as a "doomsday prepper who believes that the world will soon come to an end." She said he is the "prophet" of the church Coltharp had joined.

A preliminary hearing for Coltharp is scheduled for Feb. 20, and Shaffer's is Feb. 21.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900009062/alleged-doomsday-cult-members-face-even-more-charges.html

Knights of the Crystal Blade founders married each other's underage daughters, Utah affidavit says

John Coltharp charged with sodomy of a child.Aubrey Wieber
Salt Lake Tribune
January 12, 2018

The leaders of a fundamentalist Mormon offshoot called Knights of the Crystal Blade took each other’s daughters as child brides, according to a search warrant that was recently unsealed.

The men, Samuel Shaffer and John Coltharp, were arrested in December and charged with kidnapping after an Amber Alert was issued for Coltharp’s daughters.

Iron County Sheriff’s Office Detective Nathan Houchen detailed an interview with Shaffer in a search warrant affidavit submitted Dec. 11. Shaffer told police that he married Coltharp’s 8-year-old daughter, and that Coltharp married his 7-year-old daughter.

On Monday, Coltharp was charged in Sanpete County with sodomy of a child for a sexual assault that occurred on Aug. 1, according to charging documents. Shaffer, who is being prosecuted in Iron County, has not been charged with additional crimes.

The Sheriff’s Office began investigating Coltharp and Shaffer on Dec. 1, when Coltharp’s ex-wife alerted the office that Coltharp had fled with their four children after losing custody of them in the couple’s divorce.

Spring City police found Coltharp at his home and arrested him on suspicion of custodial interference, but his children were in the care of Shaffer. Coltharp is being held in the Sanpete County jail.

On Dec. 4, police raided a compound about a mile west of Lund, where the men’s Knights of the Crystal blade group had set up shipping containers to form a makeshift residence. Police found Coltharp’s parents, also believed to be members of the group, and his two sons, the affidavit states.

Coltharp’s parents told police that Shaffer had spent the past few nights sleeping in a tent with the four girls and had left with them the night before.

An Amber Alert was issued for Coltharp’s daughters. The four girls were recovered Dec. 5 after Shaffer was found walking a few miles from the compound that night. Two girls were recovered from a “deplorable” single-wide trailer, the affidavit says, and the other two were found in an empty 50-gallon water drum, where they had been housed for 24 hours in subfreezing temperatures.

The girls were taken to an area hospital, and one was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital.

haffer was arrested and charged with two first-degree-felony counts of kidnapping and four second-degree-felony counts of child abuse. Coltharp was charged with first-degree-felony kidnapping and obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor.

The men have preliminary hearings Wednesday — Shaffer in Iron County and Coltharp in Sanpete County. Coltharp had an initial hearing on the sodomy charge Wednesday.

According to the affidavit, Spring City Police Chief Clarke Christensen was contacted by an out-of-state man who said he communicated with Shaffer and Coltharp through social media regarding Knights of the Crystal Blade.

The man said he traveled to Utah to “investigate” the religious group, according to the affidavit, was “forcefully” baptized into the church by Shaffer and was promised a child bride.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/01/12/knights-of-the-crystal-blade-leaders-married-each-others-underage-daughters-utah-affidavit-says/

Girls are found after Amber Alert issued in Utah; their father, a member of a group called Knights of the Crystal Blade, is linked to their disappearance

Nate Carlisle
Aubrey Wieber
Salt Lake Tribune
December 4, 2016

Police have found two young girls allegedly kidnapped by their father, who court records say is a “doomsday prepper” belonging to a new religious group.

An Amber Alert that was sent about the two girls Monday afternoon was canceled at 7 p.m. The girls, 4 and 8 years old, were recovered shortly after a friend of their father was found and taken into custody west of Cedar City, in the Lund area.

Lt. Del Schlosser of the Iron County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday evening that Samuel Warren Shaffer, 34, was in custody of the Sheriff’s Office .

Shaffer was booked into the Iron County jail early Tuesday morning on suspicion of two counts of child kidnapping and four counts of reckless child abuse.

“For us, the value of the Amber Alert system, that was key in locating Mr. Shaffer and recovering the girls,” Schlosser said.

Shaffer was believed to be traveling with his two daughters and the two daughters of his associate, John Coltharp. Shaffer allegedly sees himself as a prophet for a new fundamentalist Mormon group, of which Coltharp, 33, is a member. Coltharp was arrested and booked into the Sanpete County jail Friday on suspicion of kidnapping and obstructing justice. Formal charges have not been filed.

Schlosser said a person called to report a single male walking about Lund. The male was Shaffer, and officers apprehended him. Shortly afterward, they located two young girls. One was one of Shaffer’s daughters, and the other was one of Coltharp’s daughters, Schlosser said.

Police found the other two girls shortly afterward, within 5 miles of Shaffer and the other pair.

“They were in good conditions,” Schlosser said, adding that they were cold and hungry before they were taken to Cedar City Hospital for medical evaluations.

“They were shaken, but as they got warmer, they became much more calm and talkative,” he said.

The girls had been with their father, who does not have legal custody of them, since September. The circumstances of their lives over the past few months are being investigated, Schlosser said.

Deputies from the Iron County Sheriff’s Office raided a compound in that county Monday, said Spring City Police Chief Clarke Christensen, and found Coltharp’s two boys, who also had been reported missing. A KUTV reporter tweeted video of law enforcers searching a train in Lund as a helicopter flew above.

Coltharp may have put his daughters in danger, said Kelly Peterson, an attorney representing Coltharp’s ex-wife, “and he has stated, according to my client’s understanding, that he would rather see the kids dead than with the police.”

On Friday, 4th District Judge Derek Pullan imposed a $100,000 cash bail in a divorce case between Coltharp and his ex-wife, citing Coltharp’s unwillingness to tell police where his daughters were.

Christensen said Coltharp refused to disclose the location of the children, even though the county prosecutor visited him in jail and offered him a deal in return for his cooperation.

“The information this morning was that he was going to make bail, and then the concern would be that he would be in the wind,” Peterson said.

Coltharp’s sister, Cindi Ray, on Monday said her brother has fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, including support for polygamy, though he has never practiced plural marriage. Coltharp and Shaffer, Ray said, started a religion called Knights of the Crystal Blade and have baptized each other and Dinah.

On a website titled “The kingdom of God or nothing!!!,” Shaffer outlines a religious doctrine he says was handed down to him by God on the morning of June 22, 2015.

God told him the Book of Mormon is law, he says on the site, as is plural marriage, including coupling with children. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not endorsed polygamy since 1890.

Ray worried her nieces were being hidden so they could be placed in a marriage at an early age.

According to her, Coltharp has “said to all of [his] siblings in the past that girls are meant to get married at the age of 12 — their bodies are ready.”

According to court records from Coltharp’s divorce, his ex-wife said he is a survivalist “doomsday prepper” who distrusts modern medicine and refused to allow her to use pain medication during childbirth.

Coltharp’s ex-wife also says, Pullan wrote in a September ruling, that Coltharp carries a pistol and “has threatened to send any DCFS [Division of Child and Family Services] worker or police officer to the next life if they try to take the children from him.”

The court records say Coltharp’s group is called Knights of the Crystal Blade and is led by Shaffer, who is referred to as a prophet. He also goes by Fredrick Shaffer and has published writings and videos espousing fundamentalist Mormon beliefs.

Pullan, in that September ruling, denied a temporary restraining order that would have granted the ex-wife custody of all four children. Pullan said Coltharp’s religious beliefs were not extreme enough to constitute an immediate threat to the children.

But as normal divorce and custody proceedings continued, Pullan granted the ex-wife full custody on Nov. 27. Coltharp is accused of not turning the children over to their mother. Besides their two daughters, the former couple have sons, ages 7 and 6.

Samuel Shaffer’s brother, Benjamin Shaffer, said Monday that his brother is no threat to any of the children, and that he is probably just taking care of the girls to do a favor for his friend.

“I certainly hope they don’t go in there, guns blazing, threatening my nieces just because he’s taking care of other kids,” Benjamin Shaffer said before the girls were found.

Benjamin Shaffer also disputed the characterization of the Knights of the Crystal Blade in court documents. It is not a church, he said, but more of a club or fraternity that Samuel Shaffer and Coltharp formed to discuss philosophy and religion.

There is no record of Knights of the Crystal Blade being incorporated with the state, as most churches are.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/04/search-underway-for-utah-girls-whose-father-is-said-to-belong-to-religious-sect-called-knights-of-the-crystal-blade/

Deputies raid house of polygamist sect in Southern Utah, find 2 boys, but 2 girls missing

Spring City, Utah police arrested John Coltharp for investigation of kidnapping his children

KIRK MITCHELL

The Denver Post
December 4, 2017

An Amber Alert has been issued for two sisters believed to be with a man calling himself a prophet after authorities raided a home in Lund, Utah and rescued two boys in a case with Colorado ties.

The Iron County Sheriff’s Department activated the Amber Alert on Monday afternoon after learning that the two sisters, Dinah Coltharp, 8, and Haddie, 4, were last seen with Samuel Shaffer, his two daughters and two women.

Family members had said Monday before the discovery of the girls’ two brothers, William, 7, and Seth, 6, that they fear the girls may have been betrothed to a man for marriage by their father, John Coltharp, who was arrested Saturday.

Family members of Coltharp, who moved from Highlands Ranch to Utah and then helped form a religious/survivalist sect, say they are worried about the safety of his two daughters after they say he told relatives he would rather kill the kids and anyone who tried to take them than let the government take custody of them.

Police in Spring City, Utah, arrested Coltharp, late Saturday for investigation of kidnapping his four children, said Spring City Police Chief Clarke Christensen.

Upon his arrest Coltharp refused to divulge the location of his children, even after a prosecutor offered to release him on his own recognizance from jail if he told officials where they were, Christensen said. He is being held on a $50,000 cash bond, Christensen said.

“I consider them to be in danger because of the group they are with,” Christensen said.

He said the boys were found Monday afternoon just outside Cedar City limits.

John Coltharp and Shaffer, who calls himself a prophet and a seer, formed a polygamist sect called “Knights of the Crystal Blade” about a year ago, said Coltharp’s wife, Micha Soble, 28, of Springville, Utah.

Soble and John Coltharp’s sister, Cindi Ray, said they were concerned about the safety and well-being of the children because they say he has threatened to kill the children and anyone who tries to take them.

“My brother’s views are so extremist I wouldn’t put it past him to put a bullet in their heads,” Ray said Monday. John Coltharp has told family members it would be preferable to kill the children so they could go to heaven rather than let the government take custody of them, said Ray’s husband, Greg Ray, 30.

The daughters may have been with Coltharp’s parents, Keith and Catherine Coltharp, formerly of Highlands Ranch, Christensen said.

John Coltharp persuaded his father, Keith Coltharp, to quit his job as an accountant at Lockheed Martin and his mother to quit her job at a Highlands Ranch nurse’s office and move to Spring City two years ago, Soble said.

Even if the girls haven’t been physically harmed, Cindi Ray said she is concerned about their health and nutrition.

“Are they being fed? Are they being taken care of?” she said.

But Shaffer’s brother, Benjamin Shaffer, said his brother may not even know of the Amber Alert and that from his perspective all he is doing is babysitting the Coltharp sisters.

“The last thing I want is for police to shoot a babysitter,” Benjamin Shaffer said. “My brother is a bit eccentric. But I don’t believe any of his religious beliefs are dangerous. I don’t see a concern about child brides.”

He said the allegations against his brother, who is harmless, are exaggerated. Their group was a philosophical club, not a religion, and certainly not a cult, he said.

The Coltharps grew up in Highlands Ranch and were members of the Mormon church, Soble said. At the age of 16, Soble joined the Mormon church and married John Coltharp, who immediately began “brainwashing” her about beliefs not held by the church, she said. They moved from Colorado to Provo, Utah, in 2008.

Soble said the Mormon church excommunicated her husband because of his extreme beliefs. She said her husband forbade her from interacting with their Mormon neighbors, claiming that the Mormons are Satan worshipers who “eat babies.” Their children couldn’t play with neighborhood children because the kids were “spies.”

He wanted her to move into the woods and live “off the grid.” She refused. They separated, but continued living in the same apartment, one living upstairs and the other downstairs. John Coltharp quit his job in May and took their four children with him to live with his parents in Spring City, Soble said. Soble couldn’t pay rent on her wages alone, she said.

“There was no way he was going to let me take my children, so he took them first,” she said. “I was left homeless, living in my van.”

On Sept. 15, John Coltharp and his parents gave their chickens away and disappeared, presumably to live near Cedar City, Utah, Soble said.

Soble called police and filed a report. But Christensen said at that stage her husband was the children’s legal parent.

“A parent can take their kids. He’s claiming he’s on an extended vacation,” Christensen said.

Soble said she filed for divorce and obtained sole custody of her children. She said she hasn’t been able to sleep and lives in constant fear for her children. Police and family members have received tips that John Coltharp is in a mountain retreat where he has stockpiled weapons and food.

“I have been living an absolute nightmare,” Soble said.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/04/southern-utah-missing-girls/