ArilDaine

A jury recently delivered a sentence for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who was assigned life in prison for sexually attacking 2 underage girls. It will be at least 35 years until Jeffs is eligible for parole. Source of article: [url=http://www.newsytype.com/9935-warren-jeffs-life-sentence/]Warren Jeffs given life sentence for crimes against children[/url]

[B]Not a whole lot of deliberating[/B]

Prison for life was the sentence assigned to Warren Jeffs, as reported by CNN. Jeffs was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was convicted on charges of aggravated sexual abuse for having sex with and impregnating a 15-year-old girl and sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. Jeffs received life imprisonment for the first charge and 20 years for the second. The Telegraph reports that Jeffs left the courtroom angry Friday. This was after the guilty sentence had been read. He was absent from the courtroom for the rest of the sentencing proceedings. Deliberations lasted less than 30 minutes before the jury handed down the maximum possible sentence for each charge. The court is infringing on religious right, Jeffs say, according to MSNBC.

[B]Jeffs knew consequences[/B]

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Jeffs kept written records of activities various from financial transactions to personal diaries. "Heavenly sessions” were written about in his records. There were many instances of this. That was Jeffs' term for having sex with his brides. There were 24 wives of Jeffs which were 17 while 12 were under 16, according to the Los Angeles Time. The Daily Mail reports that Jeffs had 78 wives total. MSNBC reports that in 2005 he admitted he knew outcomes. He wrote authorities would “hang me from the highest tree” if everyone discovered out what he was doing. Former FLDS member Rebecca Musser said in a testimony that she asked him why things were written down, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. He replied he was going to "be held accountable" for his actions. Musser also testified, as reported by Deseret News, that Jeffs believed records kept on Earth would be similarly kept in heaven. Prosecutors were able to very easily put away Jeffs with the written records, audio recordings and photographs that Texas Rangers discovered after they went into the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

[B]Sexual abuse common[/B]

There were horrible accounts of life at Yarning for Zion Ranch. According to the Daily Mail, sexual abuse of underage young women was a church ritual. If the young girls did not comply, Jeffs told them God would reject them. Supposedly, Jeffs was very firm as a leader too. His iron fist was used throughout the FLDS community. About 300 families were broken up when 60 members were expelled by him when he saw a threat which led to “reassigning” wives to others, as reported by MSNBC. About 29 of Jeffs’ wives were married to his father Rulon Jeffs before him. He ran the church before that. MSNBC reports that Jeffs will qualify for parole in 35 years. That will be when he is 90 years old.

[B]Former member of FLDS speaking about Jeffs' trial[/B]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0VABKvZc_g[/url]

[B]Information from[/B]

[B]CNN[/B]: [url]http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/09/warren-jeffs-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-sexual-assault/[/url]

[B]The Telegraph[/B]: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8691828/Polygamist-leader-Warren-Jeffs-gets-life-in-prison-for-assaults.html[/url]

[B]Los Angeles Times[/B]: [url]http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/warren-jeffs-polygamy-utah-texas-sentencing.html[/url]

[B]MSNBC[/B]: [url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44076040/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.TkGC6WWP-_0[/url]

[B]Salt Lake Tribune[/B]: [url]http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52338603-75/jeffs-records-sexual-writings.html.csp?page=1[/url]

[B]Deseret News[/B]: [url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705388924/The-downfall-of-Warren-Jeffs-began-long-before-Texas-raid.html?pg=1[/url]

[B]Daily Mail[/B]: [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024150/Warren-Jeffs-trial-50-brides-bred-worship-paedophile-prophet.html[/url]