Polygamy trial to begin in Utah
 
Reuters
Toronto Star
 
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The hot-button topics of religious freedom and child sexual abuse are the backdrop for opening statements Thursday in the criminal trial of the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon clan of polygamists.

Warren Jeffs, 51, has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of being an accomplice to rape. Prosecutors claim Jeffs, who is considered the sect's prophet, orchestrated a marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin in 2001.

Each charge carries a potential sentence of between five years and life in prison.

The case has galvanized the attention of this small city of golf courses and retirees, and pushed the practice of polygamy into the spotlight – a practice the early Mormon church once embraced but rejected in 1890.

Although polygamy is illegal in the United States, an estimated 37,000 people in western states subscribe to it. The law is rarely enforced because local authorities say prosecuting so-called "plural" marriages is impractical.

Jeffs is not charged with polygamy, a third-degree felony in Utah, punishable by up to five years in prison. But defense attorneys are expected to argue Jeffs is being persecuted for his religious beliefs, since polygamy and arranged marriages are the way to salvation within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, which Jeffs has led since 2002.

No charges against the accuser's husband have been filed.

The approximately 7,500 members of the FLDS, who are not affiliated with today's Mormon church, live in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, some 100 miles northwest of the Grand Canyon.

The FLDS believes its prophet's power comes directly from God and marriages are arranged after a "revelation" by him. Women wear the long braids and dresses worn a century ago by the area's pioneers and are instructed to "keep sweet."

Family trees are tangled by intermarriage with unions between cousins or between young women and older men common.

Jeffs has been held at a nearby jail since his arrest in August 2006 after 15 months as a fugitive on the FBI's Most Wanted list. He has been described as a controlling leader who warned of the "wicked" outside world, exiled those who disagreed with him, and forbade television, the Internet and even after-school sports.

Jeff's accuser testified in a preliminary hearing that she objected to Jeffs about the "celestial marriage" but he told her it was her religious duty to obey.

Prosecution witnesses are expected to include the girl, members of her family, exiled male critics of Jeffs and former wives. The defense has listed some 70 people as possible witnesses, most of whom carry the last names of some of the FLDS' most established polygamous family clans.

Opening statements were scheduled to begin in the afternoon after final jury selection.
 
TheStar.com
Originally published September 13, 2007
 
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