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	Pretrial Hearing Arrives for Steed By Jennifer Rios San Angelo Standard-Times September 8, 2011 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/sep/07/pretrial-hearing-arrives-for-steed/ A pretrial hearing is scheduled today for Leroy Johnson Steed, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who is facing up to 99 years in prison. Steed is expected to appear for a 9 a.m. pretrial hearing at the Tom Green County Courthouse on a charge of sexual assault of a child. State District Judge Barbara Walther will preside over the case. A tentative trial date is set for Nov. 29. Gena Bunn, a Longview attorney with Holmes and Moore, will represent Steed at the hearing. "We'll go through all the motions on file at some level," she said. "I anticipate that the defense and the state will be able to work out some sort of agreement." Change of venue is expected to be discussed. The state has requested that the trial be moved from Schleicher County because of the small prospective juror pool there. Steed also faces two counts of second- and third-degree bigamy and a third-degree felony tampering with evidence. No hearings have been scheduled in those cases, according to the Schleicher County District Clerk's Office. Steed is one of the four remaining FLDS men who await prosecution as a result of evidence gathered from a 2008 raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County. Twelve men were indicted after 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 their families, but were later returned.The men were indicted on various felony charges including sexual assault of a child and bigamy. Sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
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