Colorado City polygamist sentenced for marriage to underage girl
 
The Associated Press
Tucson Citizen
 
KINGMAN - A Colorado City polygamist convicted of sex offenses linked to his marriage to an underage girl has been sentenced to nine months in prison.

David Bateman, 49, was convicted Oct. 25 of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy after a trial in Mohave County Superior Court.

Prosecutors said Bateman fathered a child with the 17-year-old girl, who he had taken as a polygamous wife.

The alleged victim, now 22, told Judge James Chavez before Bateman was sentenced Monday that she was not a victim. Midge Steed described Bateman as a "loving husband."

Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said Arizona law rather than young women determines what constitutes a victim.

Bateman is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous sect based on the Arizona-Utah border.

Bateman faced up to two years in prison.

Also Monday, another of the eight men originally charged in Mohave County with sex offenses related to plural marriages with teenage girls pleaded no contest to child abuse.

Vergel Jessop, 47, had also been charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy but pleaded to the lesser charge. He will be sentenced to three years of probation on Jan. 16 under terms of a plea agreement, with no additional jail time.

He must also register as a sex offender, according to court officials.

Bateman and one other man have been convicted at trial, one man was acquitted and one case was dismissed by the state because the defense proved the alleged victim and the defendant lived outside Mohave County.

With Jessop's plea, only three other men still face trials, expected early next year.

The leader of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs, faces trial in Utah on two counts of rape as an accomplice. He is accused of forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry and have sex with an older cousin.

Jeffs, 51, has pleaded not guilty. He is being held without bail pending a trial set for April.

Jeffs was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list when he was arrested Aug. 28 in a traffic stop north of Las Vegas.
 
TucsonCitizen.com
Originally published December 19, 2006
 
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