caption: Satan with a smile
tags: sick ick gross vile evil
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-polygamist_21tex.ART.State.Edition1.4dd8bec.html
More polygamist sect members may face charges
09:51 AM CDT on Thursday, August 21, 2008
Michelle Roberts, The Associated Press
SAN ANGELO, Texas – Five men from a polygamist sect raided by Texas authorities in April stand accused of sexually assaulting children, but they may not be the only ones.
Church documents disclosed as part of a separate child custody case over the last several months identify at least 10 other men as married to girls who were 16 or younger. The girls' fathers and stepfathers blessed the unions and sometimes presided over ceremonies between other young girls and adult men, the documents show.
In all, about 20 underage girls, a few as young as 12, are identified in the documents as married to jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs, 52, or one of his followers.
Underage marriages were not universal within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but the marriage certificates, Mr. Jeffs' journal entries, photos and family listings show they were not – as the church suggested early on – isolated events either.
Over six days in April, Texas authorities collected more than 400 boxes of documents from the sect's West Texas ranch, rifling through homes, offices and the towering limestone temple for evidence of girls forced into underage marriages and sex.
The Schleicher County grand jury that indicted five FLDS men on sexual assault and a sixth for failing to report abuse is scheduled to meet again today.
Under Texas law, girls younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult.
Being married to more than one person or even "purporting" to be married to more than one person is also illegal. Texas investigators early on were working about 50 possible bigamy cases.
Rod Parker, a Utah attorney and spokesman for the church, said he believes the practice of underage marriages was "relatively limited" and continues to believe FLDS members have been unfairly treated by Texas authorities.
He said no marriage ceremonies of any kind have been conducted in the last two years.
Michelle Roberts,
The Associated Press
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