The fourth of 12 defendants from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be indicted for sexual assault – or related charges, including bigamy – was sentenced to prison on March 19. Merril Leroy Jessop (r), one of the 12 indicted (including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who is already in prison on other charges), was sentenced in San Angelo to 75 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl, one of multiple wives with whom he reportedly fathered a child while living at the FLDS compound, Yearning for Zion Ranch, in the West Texas town of Eldorado. Jessop was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Eight more men will face prosecution, which will be handled by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, according to a press statement released by A.G. Greg Abbott.

This article appears in March 26 • 2010.

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