Series of trials ahead for polygamist men
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
A new round of trials is set to begin for a group of polygamist men accused of having sex with teenage girls.

The men are all believed to be members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, based in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

David Bateman, 49, is scheduled go on trial Monday in Kingman, Ariz., on charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

Dale Barlow, 48, will follow with a trial scheduled for Oct. 31, the Mohave County Attorney's Office said in a statement. He is also facing charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

On Nov. 7, Vergel Jessop, 46, will stand trial on identical charges. Prosecutors said Terry Barlow, 25, will stand trial the week after that.

A trial for ex-Hildale police officer Rodney Holm has been postponed on a request by the Mohave County Attorney's Office.

"We asked the Court to continue it so that we could prepare for State vs. David Bateman," prosecutor Matthew Smith's office said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News.

Holm, 40, recently appealed his bigamy conviction in Utah to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Only one of the eight men has been convicted. Kelly Fischer, 39, was sentenced to 45 days in jail on the charges. Donald Barlow, 50, was acquitted in September on a single charge of sexual conduct with a minor.

A trial for Randolph Barlow, 33, was also postponed after the alleged victim — one of his wives — refused to testify. Police and prosecutors claim her testimony may have been influenced by her family, who are allegedly trying to protect FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

Jeffs, 50, is facing criminal charges in Utah accusing him of arranging a child bride marriage. Jeffs faces a preliminary hearing Nov. 21 in St. George's 5th District Court on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Friday, October 20, 2006
 
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