Grand Jury Indicts Leader, Five Members Of Texas Polygamist Sect

Eldorado, TX (AHN) - A grand jury in Texas on Tuesday indicted the leader and five members of a polygamist sect based outside this city on charges of sexually assaulting a minor and bigamy.

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) leader Warren Jeffs, who is currently in jail in Arizona awaiting trial on separate charges, was among those indicted. The five others, who are at-large, were not named.

Jeffs and four FLDS members were charged with felony sexual assault of a child. One follower was charged with the same felony and bigamy. A sixth person was charged with a misdemeanor for failing to report child abuse.

The indictment is part of an ongoing investigation of alleged sexual abuse of children at the FLDS's Yearning for Zion ranch outside Eldorado, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told Dallasnews.com. The breakaway group of the Mormon Church practices "spiritual marriage" of young girls and older men.

The jury also subpoenaed four FLDS followers to testify in the upcoming trial. They are the 16-year-old daughter of Jeffs, two teenage mothers, and a 37-year-old woman whose excommunicated husband was replaced by another man.