5 more arrested from west Texas polygamist sect

[mbperrin]

Source: AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Five indicted members of a West Texas polygamist sect turned themselves in to authorities Monday to face charges related to allegations of child sexual abuse.

The five men were indicted last week with Warren Jeffs, the already-jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The charges stem from a state investigation into allegations that the sect forced underage girls into marriage and motherhood with much older men. State authorities raided the FLDS's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado on April 3, eventually sweeping more than 400 children into foster care until the state Supreme Court said officials had overreached and sent the children home.

Raymond Merrill Jessop, 36, Allan Eugene Keate, 56, Michael George Emack, 57, and Merrill Leroy Jessop, 33, were charged with one count each of sexual assault of a child, a felony punishable by a sentence ranging from five to 99 years or life in prison. Their bond was set at $100,000 each.

Merrill Leroy Jessop also was charged with bigamy, a felony with the same potential penalties as the sexual assault charge. Lloyd Hammon Barlow, 38, the ranch's onsite physician, was charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. His bond was set at $5,000.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIdMpRHjN4hpNKBhfYyAsR4DDo4QD9274KQ80

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Pictures at link.

[superconnected]

1. Glad the state isn't letting this go.

[yardwork]

2. I just read Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

It's about two FLDS brothers who murdered their sister-in-law and her baby daughter. They convinced themselves that "God" told them to do this. The book also describes the history of Mormonism and the Fundamentalist sects.

[JeanGrey]

3. GOOD. Is the DNA in then? Probably more to come.

[harmonicon]

4. lets hope there are more to come

Slavery is alive and well in the US, thanks to the FLDS. We need to have this shit snubbed out for good.

[pipoman]

5. I hope those who

feel this should be fully prosecuted are referring to the charges which revolve around minors and not the bigamy charges revolving around consenting adults (assuming there are any). I don't know why bigamy between consenting adults should be any more illegal than same sex relationships, or any other alternative lifestyle among adults.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

6. Theories...

in most U.S. polygamy family units, I doubt very much that all adults consent to the relationship, if you define 'consent' as an act that an independent and free mind can make. In other words, I think women are used to the practice and thus they do not object to it, but I doubt they have free choice in the matter. In this way, I would not describe it as 'consent' and I would rather define it as 'assent' in that that's what these women are expected - by the MEN in their societal groups - to do.

We are not talking about independent women and independent men who want to make such an arrangement - whether a polygamy or polyandry. Bigamy - that is, being lawfully married to more than one person - is a crime for good reason. Firstly, how do you fairly divide rights among spouses? Who has visitation rights in an emergency situation? Who makes medical and life-or-death decisions? What about in case of a divorce? When you have more than two people involved, all those things (as well as insurance, retirement, money issues, etc.) become shady and litigious.

I think you may be confusing swingers, polygamists and bigamists. A polygamist is not lawfully married to all his spouses. He is only married to one of them; the rest are 'sister wives' and/or spiritually married. Swingers are adults who freely choose to engage in that lifestyle (more power to them). A bigamist is legally married to more than one person and that is a crime in all states (that I know of).