Member of polygamist sect guilty of assaulting teen

2009-11-08 00:44:02 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Law, News)

Wired PR News reports Raymond Jessop, who was arrested after a raid on at the Yearning for Zion ranch, has been found guilty of sexual assault.

Raymond Jessop has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Eldorado, Texas (WiredPRNews.com) – Raymond Jessop, a member of a polygamist sect accused of sexually assaulting a teenager allegedly “assigned” to him for a “spiritual marriage,” has been convicted of the crime. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), Jessop was found guilty Thursday, and could face up to 20 years behind bars. The girl, now 21, became pregnant when she was 16. Experts reportedly testified at the trial that the probability of the child being fathered by Jessop was nearly 100 percent.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols is quoted by the AP as stating during closing arguments at the trial, “There is a sound foundation based not just in documents — based in DNA evidence for which the documents serve as corroboration … that Raymond Merril Jessop behind those gates, behind that guard house, behind those walls, sexually assaulted” the young mother when she was a teenager.

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