DEBORAH POTTER, guest anchor: In Texas, a polygamous religious sect is the subject of a massive child abuse investigation. The sect broke away from the Mormon Church after it disavowed polygamy a century ago. More than 400 children at this compound south of San Angelo were taken into state custody. Prosecutors charge that girls as young as 14 were being forced to marry much older men. The group belongs to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Its leader, Warren Jeffs, is in jail. He was convicted last year of being an accessory to rape in a case involving a teenager. Other sects also practice polygamy, in violation of Mormon Church teachings. Lucky Severson spoke with two members of a community in Arizona.

LUCKY SEVERSON: Linda and Marlyne are plural wives from the polygamist community Centennial Park, Arizona. It is a different polygamist group than the one down the road in Colorado City -- the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Linda and Marlyne say their community is less rigid, more modern, and more open to the media, although they wouldn't let us use their last names, film their husbands, children, or other plural wives. Marlyne says it's because they're afraid of more bad publicity.

MARLYNE: All of polygamy is being tainted by a broad stroke.

SEVERSON: Marlyne was born and raised in polygamy. She's bothered by the way people see their lifestyle. Their image she believes has been marred by many misconceptions, especially the notion that women in polygamy are forced into marriage.

MARLYNE: To think that we're forced to be married, that we don't have any say and when a woman gets in a family she's basically chained to the bedpost and she's abused -- that really bothers me.

SEVERSON: Linda agrees with Marlyne and says her experience is typical of most polygamous wives, but the manner in which she lives certainly is not. The grand piano, for instance: there are two of them in this grand house with 35 bedrooms and as many bathrooms. We were told that the husband, who was not around, is an international investor not much different from many American high rollers, except he has several wives and lots of kids.

MARLYNE: There's a lot of different polygamist groups, and they function in their own way. I personally, with my marriage, I -- it was something between me and God, myself and God, and I prayed to know, to be inspired to know, where I should be, who I should marry, and when I got an answer, then I approached my parents, and we went to the clergy, and when we all agreed that this was a good thing --

SEVERSON: You mean it was your idea?

MARLYNE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. That's very typical, very typical.

SEVERSON: For the woman to chose the man?

MARLYNE: Oh, yes. It's not the men out chasing the girls. It's the women choosing.

SEVERSON: Some polygamy groups may have different practices. Linda has several sister wives. She says wives are the tricky part of polygamy.

LINDA: Dealing with all those women, I'd go crazy if I was a man. If you have multiple ladies in your life, you have to deal with all their ups and downs and their hormonal cycles. So they have to work through that and learn to be kind and loving and generous and giving to all of them.

MARLYNE: It's not like it's all about sex. It's not like he's trying to be cheating on another wife. He's willing to take care of the women that come in. Whatever relationship you have with your spouse, you value that. You treasure that.

LINDA: As one gentlemen said, there are cheaper ways to have sex than trying to maintain a large family and trying to keep that many children. That's very expensive. You have to have -- you have to have a united front in order to go out and have a family of that size, because that is not easy.

SEVERSON: Linda worked while raising her nine children. She converted from the Mormon Church, which outlawed polygamy over 100 years ago. But these splinter groups say polygamy comes from the earliest teachings of the Mormon Church, and that it's the only way to get into the Celestial Kingdom, which is the highest degree of Heaven.

LINDA: In order to perfect your character, you can't very well perfect it if you're not living it, and living plural marriage absolutely tries your character. It is not easy. Some days you are jealous. Some days you are cranky. Some days you're just a witch, okay? But you better learn to overcome that, because that's not Christ-like behavior. That's not how Christ would behave, and so we believe that this is a way for you to live the way a God would live -- with multiple wives and be able to learn to get along with one another.

SEVERSON: Linda says having sister-wives makes it possible for her to work and travel and do the things she probably wouldn't be able to do if they weren't around.

LINDA: There are some things in life I don't like to do. I hate to cook. I don't like it, okay? I'll do the dishes, but please don't make me get up next to a stove.

SEVERSON: And don't make anybody have to eat it right?

LINDA: And, well, I can cook if I have to. I just don't like to. So that's worked out very well for me because there are ladies that like to, so I don't have to fix a meal at night. My kids are all very well fed.

SEVERSON: She says being older in a family that has younger wives suits her just fine.

LINDA: When you have multiple ladies in your family, everybody is not at the same stage in their life. I'm 51 years old. I don't have the same needs as somebody that's 30 and still wanting to have children. I'm done with the children thing. But, you know, I like to snuggle every once in a while and have a nice conversation. But I certainly like to sleep in my bed by myself, so nobody's kicking me, hitting me, and snoring in my ear, okay?

MARLYNE: When you have other women in the household, and they have their needs and their issues, and, you know -- what time you have, the time that you spend with your husband, you want to make that valued time rather than being argumentative and gripy and groany and all this, and that helps create a better relationship. So when you get into older years, you have finer things to look back on, and that does -- it gives you a very fulfilled life.

SEVERSON: It's estimated that about 10,000 polygamists live in and around Centennial Park and Colorado City, and another 27,000 live throughout the Rocky Mountain West.

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Lucky Severson in Centennial Park, Arizona.