Polygamist sect member charged after raid at ranch pleads not guilty to child sexual assault

Sect member pleads not guilty to child sex assault

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A member of a polygamist sect whose West Texas ranch was raided last year pleaded not guilty Friday to sexual assault of a child.

The trial of Raymond Jessop, 38, will be the first stemming from the massive raid at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in April 2008, which resulted in all children being removed from the ranch. The custody case that followed ended with all 439 children allowed to return to their mothers or other relatives, but a dozen men from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been indicted on charges including sexual assault, bigamy and presiding over an unlawful ceremony.

Jessop entered his plea after the sexual assault charge was formally read before Texas District Judge Barbara Walther in San Angelo. He is scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 26 in the tiny town of Eldorado, about 40 miles to the south, where the ranch is located.

Jessop also has been indicted on a bigamy charge, but prosecutors decided to pursue that charge separately.

During the pre-trial hearing Friday, defense attorney Mark Stevens sought to prevent prosecutors from introducing evidence during trial that Jessop was married to nine women, including the teenager he’s accused of sexually assaulting in 2004.

Church documents seized during the raid indicate that one of Jessop’s alleged wives, a 16-year-old girl, went through three days of difficult childbirth but was not taken to the hospital at the instruction of jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs because of fears of possible prosecution.

Stevens argued that prosecutors were trying to taint Jessop’s case with unproven allegations of polygamy and ties to Jeffs, who was convicted of being an accomplice to rape in Utah and awaits trial on similar charges in Arizona.

“They just want to poison this case. They want a conviction based on prejudice,” Stevens told the judge.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols objected to the characterization and said evidence would be used to prove elements of the crime.

Walther said she plans to have the attorneys consult with her before introducing evidence before the jurors that could be unduly prejudicial.

The FLDS, historically centered on the Utah-Arizona state line, bought its West Texas ranch 6 years ago. The sect, which believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon church renounced polygamy more than a century ago.