Share
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
ELDORADO — The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial resulting from the raid at the Yearning For Zion Ranch last year was convicted Thursday of sexual assault of a child.
Jurors took a little more than two hours to convict Raymond Jessop, 38, of sexually assaulting a teen with whom he had a so-called spiritual marriage.Authorities say Jessop has nine wives. He has also been charged with bigamy, but that case is to be tried later. The girl in the assault case, now 21, was previously in a "spiritual marriage" with Jessop’s brother before being "reassigned" to Jessop when she was 15, according to documents seized at the ranch. She became pregnant at 16. Jessop, who had been free on bail during the trial, was immediately handcuffed and led across the Schleicher County Courthouse square to the jail after his conviction. Jurors were expected to return to court Monday to consider his sentence. He faces up to 20 years in prison.Jessop’s attorneys had argued that no witness placed Jessop in Schleicher County at the time the girl’s child was conceived.
@Nyx.CommentBody@