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	Pretrial Hearing Set for Former FLDS Bishop By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times August 30, 2011 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/aug/30/pretrial-hearing-set-for-former-bishop/ SAN ANGELO, Texas — A former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is scheduled for a pretrial at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Tom Green County Courthouse. Fredrick Merril Jessop, 75, is charged with performing an illegal ceremony, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. The name of the alleged victim in the indictment is the same as that on indictments for Warren Jeffs concerning an underage marriage and sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl. Jeffs, the FLDS leader, is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in prison for two counts of sexual assault of a child. Jessop was the bishop of the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado until he was removed from the ranch around a time when Jeffs was excommunicating people from a Texas jail cell. The pretrial could be used to finalize the date and location for Jessop's trial. "We expect general pretrial issues determining if both sides are announcing ready for the Oct. 31 trial," said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman with the office of the Texas attorney general. "State is ready to proceed." Jessop's trial could be the lowest felony charge to go to trial of the eight FLDS men prosecuted so far as a result of evidence gathered from the 2008 raid on the YFZ Ranch. Twelve men received indictments because of the raid, in which law enforcement seized evidence connected to child abuse amid allegations of abuse at the ranch. More than 400 children were taken from families but later returned to those at the ranch. The charges against the FLDS men include bigamy, child sexual assault, tampering with evidence, and in Jessop's case, performing an illegal ceremony. Jessop's attorney of record is Rae Leifeste of San Angelo, staff with the 51st District that handles the cases said.
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