Sexual assault by Jeffs alleged
 
By Jennifer Rios
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
The state of Texas has obtained DNA samples from Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a convicted sex offender, on suspicion of sexual assault.

The warrant for the DNA was issued Thursday by the Kingman Police Department in northwestern Arizona after discussion with Texas authorities and executed at the Mohave County jail there, where Jeffs is being held. He is serving five years to life in a Utah prison on two counts of being an accomplice to rape in a marriage he performed in 2001 involving a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin, and awaiting trial in Arizona on similar charges.

Authorities believe "that Warren Jeffs has committed the felony offense of sexual assault of a child," the warrant states, based on evidence obtained at the YFZ Ranch. The evidence, the warrant says, includes marital records showing that Jeffs "wedded" more than one underage girl and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old. Jeffs is suspected of sexually assaulting four girls at the sect's ranch between January 2004 and July 2006.

Under current Texas law, girls younger than 16 cannot consent to sex or marriage. However, before 2005, Texas law allowed girls as young as 14 to marry with the permission of their parents.

By obtaining the DNA samples, Texas authorities will be able to determine whether Jeffs fathered any children born to underage mothers, and thereby establish whether he sexually assaulted those children.

Sexual assault of a child in Texas is punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

CPS and law officials raided the sect's ranch for a week starting April 3, but the warrant issued May 29 is the first indication that the state is seeking criminal charges stemming from the evidence seized there. The criminal investigation regarding the sect's YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County is separate from the custody case involving more than 400 children taken from the communal compound in April.

The sect, whose doctrine teaches polygamy as a holy practice, split decades ago from the Mormon church, which renounced plural marriage more than a century ago.

The sect members kept "bishop's records" at the ranch near Eldorado. Those records were seized from the ranch during the April raid. From them, criminal investigators collected photos, birth certificates and marriage licenses.

The search warrant issued Thursday alleges that Jeffs, 52, had "spiritual marriages" with four girls between the ages of 12 and 14, according to "bishop's records" found on the XYZ Ranch. One of the girls was believed to have conceived a child when she was 15, according to the warrant.

In a photo taken from the ranch, Jeffs is holding a newborn wrapped in a blanket, while other photos show Jeffs with his arm around a child and another where he and another girl are embraced in a kiss. According to the affidavit, Jeffs is believed to have sexually abused three of his "wives" at the XYZ Ranch.

"The Office of the Attorney General will continue to work with local and state law enforcement to investigate claims of criminal activity, including the sexual assault of children, at the FLDS compound," said a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. "The evidence reviewed and collected from the compound will dictate the direction of this investigation."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
 
gosanangelo.com
Originally published Saturday, May 31, 2008
 
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