Polygamist Leader Arrested In Texas For Sex Charges

A polygamist sex leader was extradited from Utah to Texas, where he is expected to be tried for bigamy and sexual assault. Warren Jeffs, aged 54, is the self-proclaimed ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon sect which allowed the illegal practice of plural marriages. Jeffs had been indicted two years ago, after law enforcement officials raided his Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, where they discovered over 400 children.

Jeffs founded the ranch six years ago as a community for his followers, who practiced polygamy there and arranged marriages between under-age girls and male elders. The girls found there are believed to have been sexually abused, while the boys had allegedly been raised to be sexual predators. They were placed under custody and eventually were taken back to their families. As for the leader of the sect, he was charged with bigamy, aggravated sexual assault and assault, after he is said to have married two girls, aged 12 and 13. And along with him the prosecutors also charged several of his followers. He is now held without bond, and his first trial is scheduled to begin next month, as the prosecutors are trying to try him for each of the charges.

Warren Jeffs was brought from Utah to Texas on Tuesday, and a day later he appeared before a court for a short hearing. The judge read him the indictement and asked him if he understood the charges, but he refused to answer. Jeffs also refused to sign a scheduling order that evidenced the dates of his court appearances and only told the judge that he needed more time to hire himself a lawyer. The man had already been convicted in Utah as an accomplice for rape, after one of his followers, aged 14, was married to her cousin, which was five years older. The conviction was overturned in 2007 and the prosecutors have yet to decide if they will retry him.

Now Jeffs is held at a jail outside San Angelo in West Texas. If found guilty, he face from five to 99 years in prison. As for the mainstream of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the official name of the Mormon faith, condamned Jeffsʼ actions and tried to distance itself from his sect.