AP (via Jezebel) is reporting that five male members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) have turned themselves in to the police. They were indicted with the crime of having sex with minors, as was FLDS "prophet" Warren Jeffs. One of the men, Merrill Leroy Jessop, was also charged with bigamy. Another, Lloyd Hammon Barlow, was charged "only" with not reporting child abuse, which is a misdemeanor. He is the resident doctor at the ranch.
This is the first we're hearing about the FLDS folks since April, when Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) raided the polygamist compound (which I still think sounds like a wart cream. Hello??? Is this thing on?), except for when the head of CPS resigned, which makes one wonder if Jezebel is right when they imply that the raid was treated as a bigger crime than whatever may be going on inside the walls of the Zion Ranch. I'm kind of surprised that it took this long to charge someone with bigamy, since that's, you know, a major tenet of their religion – polygamy. Poly marriage. Not legal. Just sayin'. Of course, that charge is nothing compared to forcing minors to have sex. But it's all just "alleged" for now.
image: Jezebel
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