Warren Jeffs' Sexual Assault Trial Set for Jan., as Texas Judge Refuses to Delay
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) A Texas judge has ruled that the sexual assault trial of Warren Jeffs, the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will begin as planned in January despite Jeffs' request to delay the trial to give him more time to find an in-state attorney.
District Judge Barbara Walther said Wednesday the polygamist sect leader had been given plenty of advance warning that his Jan. 24 trial was approaching.
"This is not exactly a surprise Mr. Jeffs is here," Walther said, noting that extradition proceedings began in June. "You should understand these dates are not tentative dates and you should be prepared to (go to) trial."
Jeffs made headlines nationwide after a 2008 raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, a remote Texas town south of San Angelo, where authorities seized more than 400 children and placed them in state custody. Officials suspect the girls were being sexually abused and that the boys were being raised to be sexual predators.
Most of the children were eventually returned to their families, but seven men in the sect who see Jeffs as their spiritual leader were charged and eventually convicted of child sexual assault and abuse.
Jeffs was extradited to Texas from Utah a week ago, and authorities here have charged him with felony bigamy, aggravated sexual assault and assault. He is being held without bail and is expected to face the sexual assault charge first. The other charges will be addressed in subsequent trials.
48 Hours | Mystery investigated polygamy and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Polygamy: A World Apart.