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SAN ANGELO, Texas — ELDORADO — Guilty. The jury in the trial of Raymond Merril Jessop issued its verdict at 6:25 p.m. Thursday in the Memorial Building in Eldorado after deliberating less than three hours. Jessop, a 38-year-old member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was led away in handcuffs to the Schleicher County Jail. A half smile played on his face as he nodded to FLDS men in the makeshift courtroom. His attorney Brandon Hudson patted him on shoulder as he went by. Jessop will remain in jail until 10 a.m. Monday, when...

The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial following last year's raid at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in West Texas was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an underage girl with whom he had a so-called "spiritual marriage." Raymond Jessop, 38, didn't visibly react when the verdict was read after just more than two hours of jury deliberations. Free on bond during trial, he was immediately handcuffed and led to jail. Jurors were expected to return to court Monday to begin deciding his sentence on the child sexual assault conviction. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Lawyers...

Eldorado, Texas » Attorneys will hear closing arguments Thursday in the trial of a polygamous sect member whom the state alleges sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 2004. Fifty-first District Judge Barbara Walther told jurors Wednesday that "we are getting very close" to the final stage of Raymond Merril Jessop's trial and asked them to bring a packed suitcase in case lengthy deliberations require them to be sequestered. The state is expected to recall at least one witness -- a Texas Ranger who was the lead investigator in April 2008 when authorities raided the Yearning For Zion Ranch and uncovered...

The son of one of the most powerful families within a polygamist Mormon sect goes to trial for sexual assault Monday, a case in which Texas prosecutors will provide their first public evidence that Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints men engaged in sex with underage girls. Raymond Merril Jessop, 38, is the first to face trial among 12 defendants who live at the sect's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado and are accused of arranging or participating in underage marriages. His father, Frederick Merril Jessop is the senior leader of the FLDS because the group's prophet, Warren Jeffs,...

Unpaid property taxes have put control of more than 150 homes in a polygamous community in jeopardy and more may soon be at risk -- part of a growing financial crisis that has reignited a rift between sect members and a court-appointed overseer. Investment interests in 35 large, communal properties that are part of the United Effort Plan Trust were auctioned in a Mohave County tax lien certificate sale in February. The sale was triggered after about $124,000 of the $1.2 million total tax bill in Colorado City went unpaid in 2007. The move means those who picked up the...

Are Mormons Christians? That's one of the biggest issues members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say they encounter in today's society. "To us, to be Christians is to be followers and disciples of Christ," said Steve Stanfill, president of the church's Evansville stake, a group of 12 congregations in Southwestern Indiana, southeastern Illinois and Western Kentucky. Some groups insist Mormons are not Christians. One reason is differences over the nature of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. As "Christianity Today" once explained it, Mormons teach that God began as a finite being who achieved his exalted...

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A Texas judge ruled Friday that prosecutors could use thousands of documents seized during a weeklong raid of a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch in upcoming criminal trials snip- Texas District Judge Barbara Walther heard four days of testimony on the issue in May but didn't issue a ruling until Friday. snip- first sect man to face trial, Raymond Jessop. snip- The 38-year-old pleaded not guilty to sexual assault of a child during a pre-trial hearing on Friday. snip- Prosecutors accuse him of sexually assaulting a teen who was allegedly one of nine wives. In 2004,...

Best-selling author Carolyn Jessop will receive support to care for her disabled son for the rest of his life in a settlement reached Tuesday with her former husband, who oversees a polygamous sect's enclave in Texas. Merril Jessop, 73, agreed to pay $2,350 monthly to his former spiritual wife to support the seven children in her care, with a dollar-for-dollar credit for his Social Security benefit that is currently diverted to her.-SNIP-They had eight children together before Carolyn Jessop left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in April 2003. Their oldest daughter Betty, now 20,...

An informal survey shows there are 38,000 fundamentalist Mormons in the U.S., Canada and Mexico -- up by 1,000. "It is a conservative figure but that's the approximate figure for now," said Anne Wilde, a co-founder of the advocacy group Principle Voices, which conducts the periodic survey. Estimates for organized groups are provided by group leaders or council members. The count includes children and adults, living in both monogamous and polygamous families. Wilde said about half are in plural families. "It's been kind of generally increasing but not in thousands, maybe in 50s or 100s," Wilde said. "There is the...

Those curious about the polygamous community that has thrived on the Utah/Arizona state line for nearly 75 years may now take a guided tour through what promoters bill as "the largest and most secluded polygamist colony" in America. "Why the prairie dresses and long braids? No makeup? More than one wife?" -- all questions to be answered during "The Polygamy Experience: A Guided Tour of Colorado City." The four-hour excursion promises accounts from guides "who have actually lived and loved 'The Creek,'" the historic name for Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ...

An appeal filed with the Utah Supreme Court says a district judge went too far when she stripped a polygamous sect's charitable trust of its religious purpose and denied church members "an effective voice" in court proceedings. In rulings in the United Effort Plan Trust case, 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg has sanctioned "continued violations" of constitutional rights of thousands who belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the appeal claims. The appeal was filed Aug. 26 by attorneys representing five FLDS members, including sect bishops Lyle Jeffs and James Oler. Lindberg refused to allow...

BEAVER, Utah (AP) -- Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is being force-fed in jail for the second time in less than a week after again refusing to eat, Arizona officials said Tuesday. Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said force feeding of Jeffs started Friday...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Hundreds of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) showed up at the Matheson Courthouse Wednesday to show their opposition to the sale of land they believe is sacred. A hearing was held in 3rd District Court, where a judge was considering the sale of several hundred acres of land known as "Berry Knoll." After several hours of testimony and arguments, Judge Denise Lindberg declined to issue a ruling. However, she indicated she was open to the idea of opening the sale of the Colorado City, Ariz., farmland to the...

Texas authorities used a hoax call about abuse at a polygamous sect's Texas ranch as a pretext for an "unlimited, general search" in April 2008 -- a search law officers "had wanted for years to conduct," an attorney contends in a new court filing. The size and scope of the investigation showed from the outset it was not about checking the well-being of a single abuse victim and her child, and authorities failed to make even basic attempts to corroborate claims made in the hoax calls, the 100-plus-page brief filed Monday by attorney Gerald Goldstein on behalf of Frederick Merril...

The heifers are gone -- and that has put a snag in a key element of a proposal aimed at settling disputes involving a property trust once controlled by a polygamous sect. The Utah Attorney General's Office and attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints learned Monday via a footnote in a court filing that the fiduciary managing the trust had sold young cows at Harker Farm. The footnote, in a document filed by attorney Jeff Shields on behalf of Bruce R. Wisan, noted that the trust's cash crunch had been eased "slightly" by the...

At one point four years ago, Bruce Wisan was a white knight. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff picked the no-nonsense Salt Lake City accountant to wade into the United Effort Plan Trust, that spiderweb of communal property ownership and finances in Colorado City and Hildale. He would seize control from polygamist prophet-on-the-run Warren Jeffs, carve up the land and mete out justice for disaffected outcasts and faithful alike. It all seemed relatively simple. It's become anything but. And now Wisan has sold the dairy cows. This week, the attorney general and lawyers for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter...

Brent Jeffs was one tired-out ex-Mormon fundamentalist last week in Denver, but still a man on a mission. Back-to-back book-signings and 17-hour days in Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Denver for Jeff's recently released memoir, "Lost Boy," alternately wound him up or wore him down to feeling like "a zombie," he said. Jeffs juggles a day job with Ultradent dental products with a personal quest. Brent, the 26-year-old nephew of Warren Jeffs, the convicted felon and former prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is determined to make known the extent of what he describes...

Brent Jeffs grew up in the inner circles of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; his grandfather was a prophet of the FLDS, which teaches that polygamy is a religious practice that guarantees salvation. Jeffs' uncle Warren Jeffs became president of the sect in 2002.-SNIP- Although Brent Jeffs' lineage gives him what he says FLDS followers think of as "royal blood," he was eventually expelled from the FLDS church during a series of excommunications of dozens of men and boys. -SNIP-Jeffs lost one brother to suicide, another to an overdose, but his book argues that the...

New research on Mormons and media show that media are making attempts to distinguish between FLDS and LDS... A new study of newspaper coverage after the FLDS raid in Texas shows that of the 145 Spanish- and English-language articles from U.S. and international newspapers, just more than half explicitly distinguished between the LDS and FLDS, about 44 percent implicitly distinguished between the two churches and one article confused the two. Writing in Dialogue, researchers Ryan T. Cragun and Michael Nielsen conclude with this statement: "This paper detailed the two definitions of the label 'Mormon' used by the media. Until an...

Proposed legislation would increase statute of limitations for bigamy, change rules for child abuse investigations. A year after a massive child welfare raid at a West Texas ranch run by a polygamist sect, some legislators want to rewrite the laws that guided the state's actions during an investigation into whether young girls there were being forced to marry older men.

At the Yearning For Zion Ranch, life has regained a familiar rhythm. Families awake at 5 a.m., gather for prayers, breakfast and chores before the children head to the sect's private school. Days end much the same way: chores, a meal, prayer. There is just one sign of the disruption that unfolded here last April: The gleaming limestone temple, once illuminated and visible for miles against the night sky, is shuttered and dark. A year ago today, a local women's shelter received calls for help - now believed a hoax - that drew law enforcement to the polygamous sect's ranch...

Quest to legalise polygamy in Utah Kody Brown introduces his three wives and 12 children Some 40,000 people in the US state of Utah live in illegal polygamous families in which a man takes more than one wife. These fundamentalist Mormons have now begun a campaign for a change in the law they regard as discriminatory and unfair. Humphrey Hawksley met some of the families involved. "All right everyone, listen up," shouted Kody Brown, brushing his shoulder-length hair clear of his face. He put both hands out in front of him, pointing towards 12 children aged between four and 14...

Some 40,000 people in the US state of Utah live in illegal polygamous families in which a man takes more than one wife. These fundamentalist Mormons have now begun a campaign for a change in the law they regard as discriminatory and unfair... Under US law it is a felony, and technically the adults could be jailed and the children taken into care. But there are simply too many... Kody and Christine Brown live in a polygamous relationship...I had met the Browns a few hours earlier at the Utah State Legislature where they had joined a campaign to legalise polygamy....

Polygamy came to Parliament Hill on Wednesday, as opponents of decriminalization opened a political front in their campaign to ensure that marriage remains a union limited to two people. Immediately apparent at the news conference on Wednesday were the strange alliances that form around this issue. Charles McVety of the Institute for Family Values is an outspoken evangelical leader from the Christian right, who was vocal in his oppositon to same-sex marriage. Farzana Hassan, president of the Muslim Canadian Congress, an organization that represents secular and progressive Muslims, supported gay marriage but opposes polygamy. Dr. McVety believes the two are...

College enrollment in a northern Arizona polygamous community has dropped more than 50 percent in the past five years -- a decrease a school official says is tied to a government center that shares the property. "We've had many, many people tell us they will not come to the college because of that," Chancellor Michael J. Kearns said. Mohave Community College in Colorado City, Ariz., is now asking the county officials to stop use of the multi-use facility that is home to police and social service agencies.

-SNIP- On Thursday, more than 130 men, women and children from various polygamous groups were on Utah's Capitol Hill, learning first hand how to lobby state lawmakers and help shape the legislation that could either destroy or preserve their way of life. -SNIP- Today, polygamous groups enjoy an unprecedented dialogue with state government, from the Utah attorney general's office to state services agencies. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff encouraged Thursday's group to continue to engage with state officials. "The result of isolation, separating oneself out, is that it breeds mistrust, it leads to ignorance and I'm talking about on both sides,"...

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail February 11, 2009 at 4:18 AM EST VANCOUVER — The B.C. government has relied on selective use of flawed legislation to persecute a religious minority led by polygamists Winston Blackmore and James Oler, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says. In a public appeal to have criminal charges dropped before they are heard in court, the association says in a prepared statement on its website that Canada's anti-polygamy law is archaic, overly vague and unconstitutional. Using the law to address concerns about child abuse and sexual interference "is extremely ill-advised," the association also said. Mr. Blackmore,...

CRESTON, British Columbia — After years of deliberation, the British Columbia attorney general has charged two members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect with polygamy.Attorney General Wally Oppal announced charges Jan. 7 against the leader of the Bountiful community, Winston Blackmore, and James Oler, who is something of a rival claimant to Bountiful’s leadership. Oppal charged Blackmore with having 20 wives and Oler with having two.But Blackmore’s lawyer, Blair Suffredine, believes that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada using the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to legalize same-sex “marriage” makes it impossible for it to uphold the...

Yearning For Zion Ranch, Texas » Betty Jane Jessop's favorite phrase: "Good grief!" That's what Betty utters as she reads the new epilogue in her mother's best-selling book, Escape . In those pages, Carolyn Jessop describes her daughter's return to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, calling her brainwashed. "It just makes me want to laugh," said Betty, 19, shaking her head. Besides Carolyn herself, the character in Escape that most intrigues readers is Betty -- the second of Carolyn's eight children with FLDS bishop Merril Jessop. Why, they ask, did Betty return to the sect...

If you’d asked me last week, I’d have said that a polygamy prosecution against the leaders of the fundamentalist Mormon community in Bountiful, B.C., had two chances: slim and none. On Wednesday night, the B.C. government — or, rather, an independent special prosecutor — finally took the step that has been dithered over for years and charged Winston Blackmore and James Oler under section 293 of the Criminal Code. After giving myself a quick refresher on the legal arguments, I’m no longer so sure about “slim.” One might wonder why B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal refused to refer section 293 to...

VANCOUVER-- Winston Blackmore can seem the epitome of grace, even when facing criminal prosecution and a prison sentence of up to five years. He demonstrated this again this week, after his arrest on charges of polygamy. He was firm but pleasant with assembled reporters. He was eager to share the truth about Bountiful, at least as he sees it. He has become expert at public relations. Mr. Blackmore handled himself adroitly in recent interviews with CNN talk-show host Larry King. He has extended to media invitations to visit his polygamous community near Creston, B.C., deep in the province's interior.

L-R: Winston Blackmore, leader of the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., with Edith Barlow, Marsha Chatwin and Zelpha Chatwin. CRESTON, B.C. -- Winston Blackmore, one of two men from a B.C. Mormon colony charged with polygamy, shot back Thursday that the charges against them are an attack on religious freedoms and accused the B.C. government of grandstanding as a provincial election looms later in the year. "I am what I am, we are what we are. We are descended from a long line of Mormon-believing people," Mr. Blackmore, 52, said in a statement to reporters at the Mormon Hills...

The charges brought yesterday against two leaders in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., are likely the first steps in a process that could see Canada's anti-polygamy law struck down as unconstitutional. Over the past two decades, four attorneys-general in British Columbia have been reluctant to lay a charge because of a fear that their cases would have no chance of surviving a religious freedom defence under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Last April, Wally Oppal, the current Attorney-General of the province, said the criminal justice branch believed any prosecution would fail because of a possible violation of the...

On Wednesday around 7:45 a.m., eight plainclothes RCMP officers in unmarked cars drove up to the homes of polygamous leaders Winston Blackmore and James Oler in southeastern British Columbia. They arrested Blackmore, 52, and Oler, 44, and charged them with the criminal offence of practising polygamy. It may not be the first time that anyone in Canada has been charged with polygamy. But it is definitely the first time anyone has been charged since the 1800s.

Allegations that members of a southern Utah polygamous sect are guilty of widespread welfare fraud were raised repeatedly this summer during a U.S. Senate judiciary committee hearing. They surfaced frequently, too, in messages sent to Texas Gov. Rick Perry after an April raid on the Eldorado ranch occupied by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "Please pull the plug on the freebies for the cult. Why are the taxpayers of your state paying for this illegal group?" wrote a Michigan couple on April 17. But welfare data from Utah, Arizona and Texas do not support the...

SAN ANTONIO - Nearly two-thirds of the families living at a polygamist group's ranch - targeted in a high-profile raid last spring - had children who were abused or neglected, Texas child welfare officials said in a report released Tuesday.

The 72-year-old presiding elder of a breakaway polygamist Mormon sect and two other church members surrendered to Schleicher County authorities on Monday to face felony charges relating to the underage marriage of girls to older men. Fredrick Merril Jessop, a leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, faces one count of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor, a felony. According to authorities, one of his daughters was married to jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs at age 12 and is now the only child from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in foster care after...

That is probably the best news from an otherwise difficult election for conservatives and Republicans. In very large part, we Evangelicals must thank our Mormon cousins for that fact. They, along with our Catholic brethren, were better organized than us and that provided a base from which we could ALL work together to get this job done. What more, as we have chronicled here, Mormons took the brunt of the abuse, derision, and even threats of physical harm that came with this effort. And like us, they have given thanks to the Almighty that is ultimately in control, even if...

A grand jury in West Texas handed down eight more indictments Wednesday in the criminal investigation into abuse allegations involving members of a polygamist sect. Jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs and three other members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were charged with eight different felonies, including aggravated sexual assault, bigamy and tampering with physical evidence, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. FLDS members have been under investigation since April, when Texas Child Protective Services removed more than 400 children from the group's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, south of San Angelo. The...

The custody case that swept 439 children from a polygamist sect's western Texas ranch into foster care has largely evaporated, with state authorities dropping all but a few dozen cases against parents. All but 37 children from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado have been released from court oversight after Child Protective Services found they had not been abused or that their parents could protect them from the risk of future abuse. Only one girl has been returned to foster care. CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said the agency is pleased with the case dismissals, because they mean the children...

  (Edited to fit FR excerpt limits) A voter guide is being circulated in polygamist circles, detailing the candidates in this year's election and where they stand on issues such as ethics and equality. Carlene Cannon, a member of the Davis County Cooperative Society (also known as the Kingston group), helped create the 12-page newsletter. Members of Utah's polygamist communities have become increasingly united and vocal in recent years against perceived attacks on their lifestyle. Their numbers could impact an election: An unofficial census by Principle Voices counts 37,000 people in Utah and surrounding states who self-identify as fundamentalists....

If a proposed sale of Berry Knoll Farm is allowed to proceed, it will divest the FLDS Church of one of its most sacred sites and place it in the hands of a rival religious group, three sect members allege. In a document filed Friday, Willie Jessop, Dan Johnson and Merlin Jessop asked a 3rd District Court judge to stop the sale and find other ways to resolve disputes related to the United Effort Plan Trust short of selling its assets. Judge Denise Lindberg has set a hearing on the matter for Nov. 14 in St. George. The proposed sale...

A west Texas grand jury investigating allegations that members of a polygamist sect sexually abused girls indicted three more people Tuesday, raising the number of defendants in the case to nine. Each of the sect members indicted Tuesday by the Schleicher County grand jury was charged with sexual assault of a child, and two face an additional charge of bigamy, state Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement. Abbott's office has taken over prosecution of the case from local authorities in the tiny county. The names of those charged were not immediately released, but none had been charged previously....

FOUKE, Ark.—Federal and state authorities, prompted by allegations of child pornography being produced on site, executed search warrants Saturday evening at Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Shortly before 6 p.m., agents from the FBI, Arkansas State Police and the Arkansas Department of Human Services converged on the multiresidential compound, which sits on the equivalent of a half-mile square. For about an hour, search teams were seen entering the church and several neighboring buildings belonging to the Alamo Ministries. Allegations that children living at the Alamo facilities were being sexually and physically abused were central to the state investigation, said Bill Sadler,...

DEVIL'S GATEBrigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart TragedyPeople do remarkable things and appalling things in the name of religion. Distinguishing between the two categories isn't always easy. In the mid-1850s, Brigham Young directed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to gather in Zion -- Utah Territory -- to enable the struggling Mormon colony to hold its ground against the encroachments of westering American gentiles. To save money and thereby maximize the number of Mormons able to make the trek, Young decided to forgo horse- and oxen-drawn wagons in favor of human-powered push carts. The...

Texas officials are mounting their first legal defense of a raid on a polygamous sect's ranch, saying the sect's claim of search and seizure violations are groundless. In a newly filed court document, the Texas Attorney General's Office sets out arguments it will make at a one-hour hearing set for Oct. 1 before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther. Lyle Jeffs, Merril Jessop and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints filed motions challenging the state action days after the April 3 raid. Authorities removed 439 children from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado based on allegations...

The court-appointed special fiduciary for the United Effort Plan Trust is engaging in a "sociological and psychological war" with its beneficiaries, lawyers for Fundamentalist LDS Church members claim in newly filed court documents. They note a November 2007 time entry for one of the fiduciary's attorneys about reviewing a DVD of a jailhouse conversation FLDS leader Warren Jeffs had in which he renounced being a prophet. UEP trust lawyer Jeffrey L. Shields' notation detailed a phone conversation with UEP fiduciary Bruce Wisan and a strategy session on "how to use the DVD in the sociological and psychological war with the...

ELDORADO, Texas — When a grand jury meets here later this month, criminal indictments could be handed down against more members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. .... Some of that evidence has been used in child-custody cases over the hundreds of FLDS children taken into state protective custody during the raid. Texas Child Protective Services has said it has evidence of at least 10 underage marriages. A CPS caseworker testified during a court hearing last week that an investigation revealed "48 percent of the men at the ranch were involved in underage marriage practices." ..... "Sheriff Doran advised affiant that...

Texas officials say more than 440 children seized during an April raid on a polygamist ranch can safely live with their parents or guardians. Authorities feared some girls were being forced into underage marriages and boys were being raised to be perpetrators. The Texas Supreme Court later ruled the action was too broad and ordered the children back to their parents. The Associated Press has learned that so far the custody cases for 235 children have been dropped, and Texas Child Protective Services says more cases are likely to be dropped. Only one child - a girl allegedly married FLDS...

After years of silence, members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church are challenging the man appointed by the courts to oversee the polygamous sect's real estate holdings arm. A lawsuit was filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court late Friday seeking to set aside an $8.8 million default judgment awarded to the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust. The money was awarded in 2007 to Bruce Wisan after the UEP's former trustees, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, failed to respond to his lawsuit alleging they defrauded the trust. But now the church is fighting back, claiming the...