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Warren Jeffs (at right), leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been convicted by a Utah jury on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. When sentenced on 20 November, he could be sent to prison for life.
The charges arose from a marriage Mr Jeffs conducted between then-14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin Allen Steed. The prosecution’s first witness was Ms Wall, now 21, who testified that Jeffs pressured her into the marriage and that her husband forced her to have sex against her will.
The conviction is likely to have repercussions for the Fundamentalist Mormon colony in Bountiful, BC, which was at one time led by Warren Jeffs. The colony remains divided over his legacy to this day; about half of the 700 residents support Jeffs, the rest support Winston Blackmore. The BC government has been mulling over polygamy charges against the colony’s leaders.
Jeffs’s conviction was cheered by former Bountiful residents who escaped to find normal lives.
Ex-members of the polygamist community of Bountiful renewed calls Tuesday for B.C. to prosecute polygamists on this side of the border after a U.S. jury found prophet Warren Jeffs guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old by assigning her to marry her cousin.
Debbie Palmer, who grew up in Bountiful, near Creston, and was assigned to marry 57-year-old Ray Blackmore when she was 15, said she was happy to hear of the guilty verdict Tuesday.
She said she hoped it will push B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal to "look harder at the prosecution of the some of the elders in Bountiful."
"It's about time one of these polygamist cult leaders that has caused as much damage and [committed] horrific crimes against women, children and men is held accountable," Palmer said.
Ms Palmer bore seven children by three men, including Mr Blackmore, before she fled with her children 24 years ago.
Mr Oppal says his office is still weighing the possibility of laying charges in Bountiful.
This afternoon, one day after Jeffs’s conviction, prosecutors charged Allen Steed with raping Elissa Wall.
The Salt Lake Tribune is all over this story. Also, Time magazine has a good background piece here.
h/t: Religion News Blog
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It should be made clear that the The FLDS sect has no connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church)a/k/a “Mormons”. The FLDS has never had any ties to the LDS or Mormon Church. The FLDS sect is not a splinter group of the LDS or Mormon Church. The LDS or Mormon Church does not practice polygamy and if any member did, he or she would be ex-communicated. The FLDS took a name similar to the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in order to benefit from their good name and reputation.
I’m still not getting why law enforcement in BC has not swooped in to Bountiful & put a stop to things… Polygamy is still illegal in Canada! Unless of course the ACC & UCC are already having undue influence, advocating that polygamist relationships are “valid, loving & committed”… Its a justice issue you know.
The Fundamentalist Mormon sect headed by Warren Jeffs has obvious and undeniable historical and theological connections with the regular Mormons. Both are descended from the teachings of Joseph Smith, who invented Mormonism in the 1820s and 1830s. The FLDS originated as a splinter group from the regular Mormons.
Smith and his followers preached and practiced polygamy until 1890 after decades of military, political, and legal pressure from the US government. Only then did Mormon leaders reluctantly renounce polygamy, thus contradicting Joseph Smith’s teaching that plural marriage is an integral part of “the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on earth”.
Documentation here and here, among many other places.
Alan, The BC government is afraid that the Bountiful sect will claim that their polygamous practice is a tenet of their religion and therefore protected by the Charter’s guarantee of religious freedom. In light of our judiciary’s permissive view of same-sex “marriage” and other bizarre family arrangements, that fear may be well-founded. Welcome to Trudeaupia.
[...] FLDS leaders pressured her estranged husband to sue for custody after she testified against Warren Jeffs in the trial that resulted in his conviction on rape [...]
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