Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series living up to its title in nearly every way conceivable, ABC’s/Hulu’s ‘Daughters of the Cult’ can only be described as equal parts bewildering, intriguing, and shocking. That’s because it delves deep into the tale of a polygamous cult leader by the name of Ervil LeBaron through the eyes of none other than those to have lived through his monstrosities firsthand. Amongst them was actually his daughter Anna Keturah LeBaron, who endured years of unexpected trauma while on the lam without even knowing it before finally leaving everything she knew behind for good.
Who is Anna LeBaron?
It was reportedly back around 1969 that Anna was born to Anna-Mae Marston and Ervil LeBaron as one of the latter’s 50+ children from 14 wives, only for her childhood to be far from stable. The truth is she was close with many of her siblings, especially full biological sister Celia Kristina LeBaron, but they’re all she had growing up across the United States as they had to lay low. “My only recollections from life as a child [despite having spent my initial few years in Mexico],” she said in the show, “it was being on the run from the law; of course, we didn’t know we were on the run.”
In fact, whether it be Colorado, Texas, or any state, Anna ostensibly just spent a few months at best in one place alongside 20 other kids plus their mothers, with her own being in and out of the picture. Little did she know this was because many members of her First Born of the Lamb of God Church were wanted by the FBI on charges of murder, conspiracy of murder, theft, and additional misdemeanors. This included their self-proclaimed Prophet/her father Ervil, whom she actually admittedly met for the first time while she was 9 years old and residing with a family friend who’d tried to groom her.
Nevertheless, Anna didn’t complain or raise any alarms because she’d been taught not to from the second she came into this world — she’d essentially been brainwashed into enduring everything. “We were taught to live in awe of [our father] as God’s prophet, as the one true prophet on Earth,” she once candidly said in a BBC News interview. “We were taught that we were celestial children… and we believed it. Even though we were treated so poorly we still believed… He used fear to manipulate and control people. We were absolutely afraid of not doing what we were told. And we didn’t have a voice.”
Anna was never particularly religious, yet it wasn’t until she was nearing adolescence that she truly began breaking away from the church’s beliefs owing to Ervil’s second-in-command, Daniel Jordan. She actually didn’t know she was doing so at the time because her sole aim was to get away from the latter after he’d treated not just her but also her siblings horrifically despite them providing him free labor at his appliance repair shop in Denver, Colorado over the summers. He rained money on his own family while giving them next to nothing, per the aforementioned original production, sparking a streak of rebellion deep within her gut that only came to light in 1982.
By this point, Ervil had been apprehended, tried, sentenced, as well as passed away in prison from apparent natural causes, and Anna was residing in Houston, Texas, with her mother, a few siblings, near half-sister Lillian, her husband Mark Chynoweth, and their five children. Dan was hence making a play for the mantle, which was terrifying for her since she knew precisely how tyrannical his regime could be, so she fled once he managed to convince her mother to return to Denver. “I could not believe that my mother had been talked back into going back to Denver when we were experiencing a life in Houston that was the most normal I had ever experienced,” she said.
Anna continued, “We had lived in the same house for about a year — the longest I had ever lived anywhere — and we were eating food that was purchased in grocery stores. We were paid to work. We could save up money.” The then 13-year-old thus realized it was time for her to finally take control of her own life, leading her to call Lillian, who advised her to simply start walking without saying goodbye to anyone or turning back for even a second. “It was now or never,” she has since openly reiterated. “And the feelings that I had inside, that bitterness and the injustices that we had experienced [for years], left me with a very strong feeling about not wanting to go back.”
Anna LeBaron is a Proud Family Woman Now
Anna actually lived in a motel for a few days with the help of Lillian before moving in with her family without any worries because they were followers trying to completely shift away from the beliefs too. However, it wasn’t until the former was 15 that she truly realized the gravity of her situation; she realized she hailed from a cult, her father was a mastermind killer, and many of those she cared for as well as loved were indoctrinated criminals. Still, she tried to move on from it all with Lillian, Mark, plus their kids serving as her support system, which her sister Celia soon joined too, just for the past to return in 1988 — Mark was gunned down at work for leaving the sect on June 27.
This honestly broke Anna, but she knew she couldn’t let it hold her back, so she candidly spoke to her loved ones before deciding to move forward with her college enrollment under a new name. Lillian sadly died of suicide a short while later, yet there was no turning back for the former no matter how much her half-sister, her husband, or their kids meant to her — meaning she stayed in touch with the remaining family while trying not to lose focus on herself.
Anna ultimately tied the knot with her childhood sweetheart from Housto n, Texas, and blissfully started a family without any trace of polygamy because she feels as if it “numbs” most emotions. “I don’t believe it’s a natural relationship,” she told BBC. “Most women will struggle, having to share their husband or their significant other,” and she admittedly has had her fair share of battles. Amongst them was depression following Lillian’s death, which she could only openly acknowledge following years of intense therapy sessions.
As for Anna’s current standing, from what we can tell, this Texas native is now a proud family woman with five grown kids as well as a young grandchild who fulfill everything she’d never had growing up — her Marine Corps serving ex-husband (1989-2007) sadly passed in 2016. Moreover and more importantly, it appears as if the author of ‘The Polygamist’s Daughter’ (2017) is presently pursuing a Master’s degree in Christian Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Friends University in n Wichita, Kansas. This was apparently a dream she’d tucked away in her heart for decades, but the 55-year-old is finally making it a reality with the support of her loved ones. We should also mention she’d kept in touch with her mother despite their drastically different beliefs, that is, until Anna Mae passed away on December 1, 2019.
Read More: Where is Hyrum LeBaron Now?
