Polygamist sect leader found guilty

" ST. GEORGE, Utah (CNN) -- Polygamist sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs was found guilty Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape for using his religious authority to push a 14-year-old girl into a marriage she did not want.

FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and his defense team are stoic as the guilty verdict is read.

Jeffs stood with his hands folded and didn't appear to react as the verdict was read.

The counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing date was not immediately set.

"This trial has not been about religion or a vendetta," said prosecutor Brock Belnap. "It is simply about child abuse."

He called the young woman, Elissa Wall, a hero for coming forward with her story."


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Technorati Tags: Warren Jeffs, FLDS, LDS, polygamy, plural marriage, guilty, convicted, jury verdict

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Warren Jeffs Convicted

"ST. GEORGE, Utah (Reuters) - U.S. polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was convicted on Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape for arranging a marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old first cousin.

Jeffs faces five years to life in prison for each of the two felony charges of accomplice to rape. No date was set for sentencing.

The self-described "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints showed no expression as the verdict was read to a court packed with his supporters.

The trial has riveted Utah, the western state with a majority Mormon population. Jeffs' sect is not associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are called Mormons."

Full Sad Tale is Told Here


Technorati Tags: Warren Jeffs, FLDS, LDS, polygamy, plural marriage, guilty, convicted, jury verdict

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