BishopAccountability.org
	Jeffs Trial to Be Eighth Prosecution of FLDS Member By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times July 24, 2011 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/jul/23/jeffs-to-join-associates-prosecuted-by-state/ Starting Monday, polygamy-sanctioning sect leader Warren Jeffs will join the ranks of fellow members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who have been prosecuted by the state. Jeffs will be on trial in two counts of sexual assault of a child. Seven FLDS members have undergone criminal prosecution, with two having taken plea bargains and five having gone to trial. Raymond Merril Jessop was the first FLDS member to go to trial in October 2009 in Eldorado. He was convicted of sexual assault of a child as a second-degree felony and sentenced to 10 years in prison and an $8,000 fine on Nov. 10, 2009. His case is ready to be set for oral arguments in the Texas Third Court of Appeals. Allan Eugene Keate was convicted of first-degree felony sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 33 years in prison on Dec. 17, 2009, in Eldorado. A reply brief was due for him this week. Michael Emack, on Jan. 22, 2010, pleaded no contest to sexual assault of a child and received a seven-year sentence. On April 15, Emack also pleaded no contest to charges of bigamy and received another seven-year sentence to be served concurrently. Emack's case was appealed in oral arguments before the Third Court of Appeals on May 18, the only FLDS member to have done so thus far. His attorneys argued mostly against the lawfulness of search warrants used to obtain evidence against the FLDS members. Evidence was obtained from a raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in April 2008 based on the call of a woman claiming abuse at the ranch. The call is now widely believed to have been a hoax call. More than 400 children were removed from the ranch, but the Third Court of Appeals ordered them returned. Merril Leroy Jessop was convicted in a trial of first-degree sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 75 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on March 19 in San Angelo. He received the highest conviction for an FLDS member so far. He was denied oral arguments in the Third Court of Appeals, and Merril Jessop has filed a petition for discretionary review. Lehi Barlow Jeffs also pleaded no contest and was sentenced on April 15, 2010, to eight years for sexual assault of a child and eight years for bigamy. Both sentences were to be served concurrently. His request for oral arguments were also denied, although his case is ready to be set in the Third Court of Appeals. Abram Harker Jeffs was convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 17 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on June 24, 2010, in Eldorado. A state brief is due in Abram Harker Jeffs' appellate process, and oral arguments have been requested, according to Third Court of Appeals records. Keith William Dutson was convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child and sentenced to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine on Nov. 9 in San Angelo. State briefs are due in Dutson's appellate case.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.