By John Dougherty
New York Times
November 21, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/21jeffs.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=us&adxnnlx=1195650414-JGeMR1KPM6fKxKAGEsQErg
ST. GEORGE, Utah, Nov. 20 — The polygamous leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year-old
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| Warren S. Jeffs looking at his lawyer Tuesday in St. George, Utah, at his sentencing for acting as an accomplice to a rape. Photo by Jud Burkett |
girl to "spiritually" marry her 19-year-old cousin and commanding the naïve bride to submit to sexual relations against her will.
The defendant, Warren S. Jeffs, 51, was convicted by a jury in September of two counts of acting as an accomplice to a rape. Judge James L. Shumate of the Fifth District Court imposed two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has the authority to parole Mr. Jeffs at any time, but a spokesman, Jack Ford, said it would be unlikely to do so before his first hearing in three to four years.
Mr. Jeffs remained seated, his face expressionless, as Judge Shumate announced the sentence. He declined the judge's offer to address the court, and his defense lawyer, Walter Budgen, said Mr. Jeffs did not want to say anything publicly because he still faced criminal charges for arranging under-age marriages in Arizona. In Utah, Mr. Jeffs faces federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Mr. Jeffs was convicted after a trial that included testimony by the victim, Elissa Wall, who is now 21, married and no longer a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon sect with an estimated 10,000 members. Ms. Wall testified that she told Mr. Jeffs she did not want to marry her cousin Allen G. Steed and later begged Mr. Jeffs to be released from the union because of unwanted sexual contact.
A day after Mr. Jeffs's conviction on Sept. 25, Mr. Steed was charged with one count of rape, and is awaiting trial.
Ms. Wall declined Judge Shumate's restitution offer of $5,000 for psychological counseling. Facing Mr. Jeffs in the courtroom Tuesday, she said that her restitution would be for the court "to give Warren Jeffs the sentence that he deserves and that perhaps some good will come from all of this."
The sect's teachings state that a man must have at least three wives to reach the highest realms of heaven. The sect split more than a century ago from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which disavowed polygamy in 1890 in a political compromise to gain statehood for Utah. The mainstream church excommunicates anyone practicing polygamy.
Two weeks ago, Judge Shumate unsealed jailhouse videotapes, a mental health competency report and other documents describing a crisis of faith last winter by Mr. Jeffs and his deteriorating mental health.
Those records show that after a month of praying and fasting in his cell at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah, Mr. Jeffs relinquished his role as sect leader in conversations with church members and family.
"I am not the prophet. I never was the prophet, and I have been deceived by the powers of evil," Mr. Jeffs said to a brother in a conversation on Jan. 25 that was videotaped by jail officials. In another conversation, Mr. Jeffs said he had been "immoral" with a sister and a daughter 30 years ago, according to documents.
Three days later, Mr. Jeffs tried to hang himself in jail. In the days after the suicide attempt, he threw himself and slammed his head against a cell wall, according to the mental health competency report prepared last April. After he was treated for depression, Mr. Jeffs's health improved in February, and defense documents state that he recanted his statements about not being the prophet and that he had been faced with a great spiritual test.
Mr. Jeffs assumed control of the church after the death of his predecessor, his father, Rulon.
Mr. Jeffs ruled with unquestioned authority and excommunicated scores of men who were forced to leave the community and their wives and children. Mr. Jeffs then reassigned the women and children to other men that he considered more spiritually worthy.
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