Texas jury sentences Warren Jeffs to life

A jury sentenced polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who heads a breakaway Mormon sect, to over a century in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting two underage girls he claimed as "spiritual" brides.

The Texas jury of 10 women and two men handed down the sentence after less than an hour of deliberations. Jeffs was given 99 years, or a life sentence, for one charge and 20 years for a second, the maximum for both.

The 55-year-old leader of the breakaway Mormon sect was convicted last week of aggravated sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child in connection with his relationship to two girls he "married" when they were 12 and 14 years old.

Jeffs fathered a child with the older girl at his sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch in rural Texas and was heard on audio recordings telling groups of young teen girls that they would be "rejected by God" if they refused his sexual advances.

Jeffs is considered the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and has argued in loud outbursts that the Texas court was trampling on his religious rights by trying the case.

His polygamist sect, which experts estimate has 10,000 followers in North America, has been condemned by the mainstream Mormon Church and is accused of promoting marriages between older men and girls.

Prosecutors said Jeffs had "played a sick game of child molestation under the guise of religious ceremony."

REPRESENTED HIMSELF

"Mr. Jeffs had his big house, where he chose to warehouse hundreds of girls and women for his sexual gratification. The state of Texas has a big house too, and that is where Warren Jeffs should spend the rest of his days," Assistant Texas Attorney General Eric Nichols told the jury during closing arguments.

"Warren Jeffs made himself into something that harms each and every person he touches."

Jeffs instructed his defense attorneys to refrain from making closing arguments on his behalf, though he did make a written request for probation.

Jeffs, who represented himself during his trial but had lawyers during the sentencing phase, has argued in loud outbursts throughout the trial that the Texas court was trampling on his religious rights by trying the case.

His polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been condemned by the mainstream Mormon Church.

The conviction stems from a highly publicized April 2008 raid on the sect's compound in Eldorado, Texas, in which authorities took custody of some 400 children but later returned them to their families after an investigation and DNA tests.

Some legal experts have argued because it was triggered by a false report of abuse, the evidence gathered there could be disallowed.More...