Barlow Witness Located In Utah
 
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Tri-State News Network
 
KINGMAN, AZ - A young woman whom prosecutors view as both the key witness and the victim of sex offenses allegedly committed by a northern Arizona polygamist four years ago was finally located last Friday, ten days after the man's trial was postponed given inability to find her.

Washington County Chief Deputy Sheriff Rob Tersigni said the woman, 19, was arrested in St. George, Utah and brought before a Judge March 17. She was directed to attend legal proceedings against her former "celestial" husband, Randolph Barlow, 31, Colorado City, and she was released on $5,000 bond.

Barlow is charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual conduct with a minor. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the woman was 16-years-old when the offenses occurred after she had been paired with Barlow in a church-arranged marriage not legally recognized.

Smith is prosecuting seven other men for similar alleged offenses involving other young girls partnered in "ceremonial" marriages that he said were sanctioned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, many of whose members live in Colorado City, or just accross the northern Arizona border in Hilldale, Ut.

Church "prophet" Warren Jeffs has also been indicted in one of the cases under a conspiracy theory for allegedly arranging a marriage, therein facilitating the alleged sex offenses. Jeffs, 50, has been on the run since the indictments last summer, and $60,000 in reward money is offered for information leading to the apprehension of Jeffs.
 
Tri-State News Network
Originally published March 24, 2006
 
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