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September 10, 2025 76 mins

Pamela Jones - Escaping a Deadly Polygamous Cult

DIVORCED: FLDS Cults

 TW: Brief mention of CSA and child abuse in this episode

In 1965, PAMELA JONES was born in Los Molinos, Mexico, into a polygamous Mormon cult known as The Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Time. As the eldest daughter of 13 children, she left school at age 11 to care for her younger siblings in a remote desert compound without electricity or running water. 

Married at 15, Pamela found herself trapped at Zion’s Camp, an even more oppressive cult offshoot, with a husband more controlling and manipulative than her abusive father. 

At age 34, after 17 pregnancies and 9 children, Pamela and her kids escaped to the United States. With no resources and less than a fifth-grade education, she found work cleaning houses, determined to build a new life for her family.

Today Pamela and her sister Vera, also a cult survivor, host the podcast Wicked Confessions Uncensored, exploring the hidden world of polygamous cults, where pretenses of holiness mask shocking truths. Pamela and Vera pull back the curtain to reveal the scandals, immorality, hypocrisy, betrayal, and hidden reality of life in these oppressive and secretive communities.

Pamela lives outside Minneapolis with her sweetheart, Rick, close to her 9 children and 30 grandchildren. The Dirt Beneath Our Door: My Journey to Freedom After Escaping a Polygamous Mormon Cult is her first book.

FIND PAMELA JONES:

Website: https://www.pamelaspeaks.live/

Book: The Dirt Beneath Our Door https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Dirt-Beneath-Our-Door/Pamela-Jones/9781637747292

Podcast: Wicked Confessions Uncensored is available on most podcast platforms.

FIND JANICE:

Janice Selbie's Best-selling book Divorcing Religion: A Memoir and Survival Handbook is now available in the USA:

Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF

 and CANADA 

Amazon
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DP78TZZF

Recordings are available for the Shameless Sexuality: Life After Purity Culture conference 2025! Get your Resource Ticket now: 

https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/ 

Religious Trauma Survivor Support Group is happening on Tuesdays at 5pm Pacific and Thursdays at 6pm Eastern (starting April 17). Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with others for healing and support: 

https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services 

Need help on your journey of healing from Religious Trauma? Book a free 20-minute consultation with Janice here: 

https://www.divorcing-religion.com/services

Follow Janice and Divorcing Religion on Social Media:

Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net

BlueSky: @janiceselbie.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivorcingReligion

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@janiceselbie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisecounsellor/

Subscribe to the audio-only version here: 

https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast

 The Divorcing Religion Podcast is for entertainment purposes only. If you need help with your mental health, please consult a qualified, secular mental health clinician.

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