Wednesday, September 26, 2007

It looks like he gave 'em a little too much of that old time false religion.

Roto-Reuters: Polygamist leader Jeffs convicted in rape case

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, whose word was considered God's will to his fundamentalist church of breakaway Mormons, was convicted on Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape by forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin.

Jeffs, the self-described "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, spent 15 months on the run and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list before his arrest in August 2006.

The tall, gaunt Jeffs showed no expression as the verdict was read. The rape victim, who is now 21 and remarried, sat in the front row of the crowded courtroom packed with media and Jeff's supporters.

Sentencing was set for November 20. Jeffs, 51, faces five years to life in prison for each of the two felony charges.

Revered by his faithful and demonized by others, Jeffs has become the face of the FLDS, whose approximately 7,500 members live in a secluded red-rock enclave at the Utah-Arizona border. FLDS women wear long, pioneer-style dresses and long braided hair, and members distrust outsiders.

When you believe the wrong things, it is much easier to do the wrong things.

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