| Cousin: I Never Forced Sex on Teen Bride At Utah Sect Leader's Trial, Man Who Married Teen Cousin Says He Never Forced Her Into Sex | |
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press ABC News | |
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The cousin of a woman who claims the leader of a polygamous sect forced them to marry when she was 14 said Wednesday he never forced himself on the teen bride. He also claimed she was the one who initiated sex. The testimony came during the trial of Warren Jeffs, 51, who is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Prosecutors claim he used his iron-fisted influence to force her into sex and marriage with her cousin in 2001. At times breaking into tears, the cousin spoke softly as he told jurors how she approached him after he fell asleep in his clothes following a 12-hour day at work. During his testimony, the woman, who is now 21, ran from the courtroom. "She woke me up and asked me if I cared about her and loved her," he testified. "I told her that I did. She rolled up close to me and asked me to scratch her back. ... I felt like she was ready to go forward." Defense attorney Wally Bugden asked if he had to talk her into sex. "No sir, never," he replied. The cousin, who is now 26, has not been charged. Before he testified, he was warned that what he said could be used against him, but he shrugged off the warning. "I believe that every story needs two sides for the truth to come out," he told the court. The teen bride has testified that her objections to the marriage and her cousin's subsequent sexual advances were ignored by church leaders. She said Jeffs refused to release her from the marriage. The young woman left the marriage and the FLDS church in 2004 after becoming pregnant with another man's child. The Associated Press generally does not name people alleging sexual abuse, and also is not naming the cousin to protect her identity. If convicted of the charges, Jeffs could spend the rest of his life in prison. In 2005, before speaking to police, the woman filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs, seeking money and property from a church-held trust for pain and suffering from her marriage. Polygamy, a practice central to FLDS religious beliefs, is not an issue in the case because the marriage between the cousins was monogamous. The Mormon church, the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, abandoned polygamy in 1890 as a condition of statehood and excommunicates members who engage in the practice. | |
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abcnews.go.com Originally published September 19, 2007 | |
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