Jeffs indicted on new charges
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
TIMELINE

June 9, 2005 - The Mohave County Attorney's Office obtained indictments against Warren Steed Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church. Jeffs was indicted on two Class Six felony charges of sexual conduct with a minor and one charge of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

July 13 - Utah and Arizona Attorney Generals Mark Shurtleff and Terry Goddard band together to offer a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

January 17, 2006, The FBI adds $50,000 to the reward money for information leading to polygamist leader Warren Jeffs on top of the money offered by the Utah and Arizona attorneys general offices.

April 6 - Washington County Attorney's Office files charges against Warren Steed Jeffs on two counts of rape as an accomplice following an investigation by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

May 6 - Warren Jeffs is placed on the FBI's top ten most wanted list.

August 28 - Warren Jeffs is apprehended peacefully following a routine traffic stop on Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas and will face the charges in Utah first.

May 10, 2007, A Mohave County Grand Jury indicts Warren Steed Jeffs on two counts of Sexual Conduct with a minor and two counts of incest.

June 21, 2007, A Mohave County Grand Jury indicts Warren Steed Jeffs on two counts of Sexual Conduct with a minor and two counts of incest.

HURRICANE - Charges against Warren Steed Jeffs, 51, are rapidly mounting after more grand jury indictments were passed down in Mohave County, Ariz.

Jeffs has been indicted on eight new sex offense charges on top of the three he was already facing in Arizona.

Jeffs was served the warrant on the new charges by a member of the Purgatory Correctional Facility staff where Jeffs is being held without bail on his Utah charges of rape as an accomplice and is scheduled for jury trial in September. The new charges against Jeffs include sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice with a child under 18 and incest as an accomplice and stem from alleged incidents in 2002 and 2003.

The first grand jury charges in 2005 came about after nine months of investigative work by Mohave County Attorney Office investigator Gary Engels.

Engels said the grand jury indictments in 2007 are new charges and not from the initial investigation almost three years ago.

"This is new stuff and there is a possibility of additional charges," Engels said.

The additional charges involve two separate victims, according to a press release from the Mohave County Attorney's Office and were obtained by a Mohave County grand jury on May 10 and another grand jury on June 21.

The sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice is a Class 6 Felony and the incest charges are Class 4 Felonies.

The Class 6 felony is punishable by four months to two years in prison or probation and the Class 4 felony is punishable by one to 3 years in prison or probation - all up to the judge's discretion.

Jeffs will not go to Mohave County to face the new charges or have an initial appearance on the charges until his case in Utah is resolved.

The charges against Jeffs in Utah and Arizona stem from Jeffs' alleged role in arranging marriages between underage girls and adult men - all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes in the tenet of polygamy.

Jeffs is considered the prophet of the church, which has up to 10,000 followers with a large number living in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

Since his incarceration at Purgatory Correctional Facility, Jeffs has suffered from depression and anxiety and a mental health expert who examined Jeffs earlier this year said Jeffs does suffer from a substantial mental illness but is competent to stand trial.

When asked if the new charges have jail staff concerned about Jeffs' mental well-being or if he was on suicide watch, Lt. Jake Adams, with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, said he was not at liberty to discuss that or answer if Jeffs was still in an administrative cell.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published July 13, 2007
 
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