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	Child-Bride Case Fizzles Refusal to Testify against Polygamist May Hurt Jeffs Case By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News [Utah] March 1, 2007 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660199613,00.html After the former child bride refused to testify again, prosecutors have reluctantly dismissed a criminal case against polygamist Randy Barlow. It not only deals a blow to prosecutors' case against one of eight Colorado City men accused of taking child brides, the Arizona case against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs is also damaged. Candi Shapley, now 20, refused to testify against her former husband on Tuesday, even telling prosecutors she was willing to go to jail for contempt of court. "Unfortunately, tremendous pressure has been exerted on her by her parents as well as some other members of the FLDS Church, which is why she ultimately decided not to testify," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "I was not willing to revictimize our victim by trying to put her in jail. That is why the case was ultimately dismissed." Barlow, 33, was charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of taking Shapley as a bride when she was 16 in a marriage arranged by Jeffs. Shapley has fought with law enforcement over testifying against Barlow. She was arrested by Washington County Sheriff's deputies last year after she refused to respond to a subpoena to appear in a Kingman, Ariz., court. After she finally took the stand in August, she refused to talk. The judge found her in contempt and ordered Shapley to spend 30 days in an abused women's shelter. Law enforcement officials believe she was influenced by her family, who remain in the FLDS Church. Sources told the Deseret Morning News her father was kicked out of the polygamous sect and then reinstated. Some believe it was to control her testimony. "I think that Candi Shapley is really the victim here," Smith said. Shapley was also expected to testify in Mohave County's cases against Jeffs, who is charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor — accusing him of arranging the child bride marriages. Here in Utah, Jeffs is facing an April trial on charges of rape as an accomplice. Shapley told KTVK-TV in Phoenix that she had no interest in being a crusader, adding that her home was broken into after she was named as a witness in Barlow's case. "I would love to have it all just go away and live my peaceful life," she said. Of the Colorado City eight, two have been convicted, one acquitted and charges were already dismissed against another. Meanwhile, court hearings continue for the remaining FLDS members facing charges. A trial has been delayed for Dale Barlow, 49. Rodney Holm, 40, will go on trial in March on charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal of his bigamy conviction in Utah. Vergel Jessop, 47, will be sentenced a few days after that. He pleaded no contest to child abuse charges. The Mohave County Attorney's Office said he is expected to receive three years supervised probation and no additional jail time. Registration as a sex offender will be left up to the judge, prosecutors said. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
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