BishopAccountability.org
	Polygamist Is Indicted in Assault of a Child By John Dougherty The New York Times July 23, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/us/23polygamist.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin A Texas grand jury handed up an indictment Tuesday against a Mormon polygamist leader who is already serving time in prison, accusing him of sexually assaulting a girl under 17. The defendant, Warren S. Jeffs, 52, was convicted last year of two counts of rape as an accomplice and sentenced to 10 years to life in prison in Utah. He is being held in Mohave County, Ariz., awaiting trial on charges of arranging underage marriages. He also faces federal fugitive charges in Utah. Five other members of Mr. Jeffs’s church, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were also indicted by the grand jury, in Schleicher County. Four were accused of sexually assaulting girls under 17, with one also charged with bigamy. The fifth was charged with failing to report child abuse. The names of those indicted were sealed until arrest warrants could be served. Conviction of sexual assault of a minor can bring a life sentence. “The indictments issued today are part of an ongoing and continuing criminal investigation,” said the Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott. Mr. Abbott presented the case to the grand jury, according to Jerry Strickland, a spokesman. Willie Jessop, a church member and spokesman, said on Tuesday that members would face the accusations, The Associated Press reported. “We’re actually quite shocked,” Mr. Jessop said. “As soon as we know who they’re looking for, we’ll try to face it. We believe in our innocence.” The indictments came seven weeks after the Texas Supreme Court ordered child welfare officials to return to their parents 460 children removed from the sect’s Yearning for Zion Ranch and placed into foster care in early April. The court said the authorities had overreached in removing all the children. The group says polygamy is necessary to achieve the highest level of glory in heaven. The sect split from the Salt Lake City-based Mormon Church after the church renounced polygamy in 1890 as a condition for Utah to gain statehood.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.