TEXAS POLYGAMIST: Warren Jeffs polygamist leader hospitalized!

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By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press / Aug 29, 12:38 PM EDT.

HOUSTON (AP) - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been hospitalized after not eating or drinking enough since his recent conviction on child sexual assault charges, a prison official said Monday.

The 55-year-old head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is in critical but stable condition, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons told The Associated Press. It is uncertain how long he will be hospitalized.

Jeffs attorney Emily Detoto told the AP that he was taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler on Sunday night. She says he "hasn't been feeling well" but wouldn't elaborate.

A hospital spokeswoman said she could not release any information about whether Jeffs was a patient.

Jeffs was convicted earlier this month of sexually assaulting underage followers he took as spiritual brides.

He had been in a Huntsville prison after a jury decided he should spend life in prison, then was moved last week to the Powledge Unit outside Palestine, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.

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MEDIAEVAL TEXAS?: Warren Jeffs gets life in prison for sex with underage girls!

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BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST, The Salt Lake Tribune / First published 1 hour ago.

Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is escorted into the Tom Green County Courthouse, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. Jeffs was found guilty on two counts of sexual assault of a child and could face up to 119 years in prison. The jury is set to hear the closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial Tuesday. (AP Photo/San Angelo Standard-Times, Patrick Dove).

Jurors deliberated for just under 30 minutes before ordering Jeffs to serve life in prison on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and 20 years in prison on one count of sexual assault of a child. They also determined Jeffs must pay a $10,000 fine.

In a closing statement given Tuesday morning, prosecutor Eric Nichols told the jury the 55-year-old Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints leader was a man who "perverted a religion to his own ends" and treated women and children not as human beings but as "property for sexual gratification and child bearing."

"Evidence is this case shows this is not the prosecution of a people, this is a prosecution to protect a people," Nichols said.

Following the sentencing, Nichols said "this justice has been long in coming."

"Rarely in the state of Texas justice system have we ever encountered a person such as Warren Jeffs whose crimes span decades...and involve hundreds of victims," he said.

Reacting to the sentence, former FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said "everyone in the church has to take responsibility."

"We built this golden calf," he said of Jeffs. "Now we have to decide do we love god or do we love this golden calf."

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MEDIAEVAL TEXAS?: Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs convicted of child sex abuse!

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By Will Weissert, Associated Press / Published: Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011 3:39 p.m. MDT.

Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press

A law enforcement officer, left, escorts polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs, right, into the Tom Green County Courthouse Thursday Aug. 4, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. The defense rested Thursday in the sexual assault trial against Jeffs in which he served as his own defense.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A Texas jury convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs of child sexual assault on Thursday, in a case stemming from two young followers he took as brides in what his church calls "spiritual marriages."

The head of the Fundamentalist LDS Church stood stone-faced as the verdict was read. Jeffs, who acted as his own attorney, stood mostly mute for his closing argument, staring at the floor, for all but a few seconds of the half hour he was allotted.

At one point he mumbled, "I am at peace," and said no more. The only noise in the courtroom was the creaking of wooden benches brimming with spectators.

Jeffs, 55, had claimed his religious rights were being trampled on and that God would seek revenge if the trial continued. He now faces up to life in prison. The sentencing phase of the trial began after the verdict was announced, and Texas' attorney general said it could take three days.

Prosecutors used DNA evidence to show Jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl and played an audio recording of what they said was him sexually assaulting a 12-year-old. They also played audio recordings in which Jeffs was heard instructing young women on how to please him sexually.

The FLDS, which has at least 10,000 members, is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism and believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. They see Jeffs as God's spokesman on earth.

Police had raided the group's remote West Texas ranch in April 2008, finding women dressed in frontier-style dresses and hairdos from the 19th century as well as seeing underage girls who were clearly pregnant. 

The call to an abuse hotline that spurred the raid turned out to be a hoax, and more than 400 children who had been placed in protective custody were eventually returned to their families.

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