| First trial is underway in raid of Texas polygamist compound Raymond Merrill Jessop, 38, is charged with sexual assault of a minor, having allegedly fathered her child. Prosecutors argue Jessop's marriage to the girl is not legal in Texas. | |
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By Nicholas Riccardi Los Angeles Times | |
Reporting from Eldorado, Texas - The first criminal prosecution stemming from a controversial raid on a polygamous sect's compound here began today as a state prosecutor told jurors he would prove that a key member of the group had had sex with a 16-year-old girl. Raymond Merrill Jessop, now 38, is charged with sexual assault on a minor for allegedly fathering a child with the daughter of the sect's self-styled prophet, Warren Jeffs. The girl was one of Jessop's wives, but prosecutors argue that the marriage is not legal in Texas. "We will ask you to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Raymond Merrill Jessop is guilty of sexual assault on a woman less than half his age," Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric Nichols told the jury of eight men and four women in a brief opening statement. Under Texas law, someone can be convicted of sexual assault of a minor, even if the relationship was consensual, if the victim was younger than 17 and not lawfully married to the assailant. Defense attorney Mark Stevens countered that the state does not have enough evidence to prove a crime occurred. "In this country, we don't try people based on their clothes or their hairstyles. And we don't try people on their beliefs or the churches they worship in," he said. "I believe if we stick to the facts and the evidence in this case, that Raymond will do just fine." Neither side mentioned the explosive circumstances that brought Jessop -- whose father is acting as the sect's leader while Jeffs serves a life prison term for his conviction in Utah as an accomplice to rape -- to court. In April 2008, Texas authorities launched a massive raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch, a compound that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was building outside the small town of Eldorado. The FLDS, a breakaway sect not recognized by the Mormon church, believes that polygamy brings glorification in heaven. Officials said they were responding to a call for help from a girl who expected to become a child bride. They removed 439 children from the compound, saying it was for the youths' safety. But the call turned out to be a hoax. Appellate judges questioned whether Texas had a right to hold the children, and all eventually were returned to the FLDS. Authorities, however, took DNA samples to prove that men in the sect were impregnating underage girls. They charged 12 sect members with various crimes. Jessop's case is the first to go to trial. At the time of the raid, there was widespread local distrust of the FLDS. Selecting a jury in the county, which has only 2,800 residents, has been difficult. The process started Monday, when 153 prospective jurors, including 17 FLDS members, came to a community center that has been converted to a courthouse for the trial. On Wednesday, after lawyers and Judge Barbara Walther laboriously interviewed 85 of them, a jury was seated. All the FLDS members were dismissed. The trial is expected to take two weeks. Testimony is scheduled to begin Thursday. nicholas.riccardi@latimes.com | |
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LATimes.com Originally published October 28, 2009 | |
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