Jeffs Get's Life

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

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

Jeffs, 55, was convicted last week of aggravated sexual assault of a child and
sexual assault of a child in connection with his relationship to two girls he
"married" when they were 12 and 14 years old at the sect's Texas ranch.

Jeffs fathered a child with the older girl.

"Warren Jeffs made himself into something that harms each and every person he
touches," Assistant Texas Attorney General Eric Nichols told the jury during
closing arguments.

Nichols said Jeffs, considered the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had abused his position "to victimize
children, to break up families and to satisfy his own personal appetites and
desires".

Jeffs, who represented himself at trial, had 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.

"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," Nichols said.

GROUNDS FOR APPEAL

Jeffs, who allowed lawyers to represent him during the sentencing phase, had
instructed his attorneys to refrain from making closing arguments on his behalf,
though he did make a written request for probation.

Defense attorneys said after the sentencing that they would not be handling
Jeffs' appeal, but that there were legitimate grounds for one, including that
evidence in the case had been gathered during a 2008 raid based on a false abuse
report.

Asked what he would have done differently had Jeffs allowed lawyers to represent
him at trial, on-again-off-again defense attorney Deric Walpole simply said:
"Lots."

The sentencing came a day after Jeffs 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' conviction stems from a highly publicized raid on the sect's Yearning For
Zion compound in Eldorado, Texas, in which authorities took temporary custody of
some 400 children. They later returned them to their families after an
investigation and DNA tests.

Some legal experts have said that because the raid was triggered by a false
report, the evidence gathered there could be disallowed.

But Judge Barbara Walther, who has presided over the case in her San Angelo
courtroom since the raid, allowed evidence prosecutors said proved Jeffs abused
his position in power to have sex with girls as young as 12.

A dozen defendants connected to the YFZ Ranch have been indicted on sexual
assault of a child, bigamy or other charges, according to Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott's office.

Eight have been convicted on felony charges, and the others are awaiting trial,
the Attorney General's office said. See Chick's THE FRAME UP.