ELDORADO, Texas - Raymond Merril Jessop, a 30-something polygamist sect member, and an underage girl were sealed for "time and eternity" Aug. 12, 2004, in a ceremony performed by "President" Warren Jeffs in his home at the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado, a Texas Ranger testified Thursday.
Texas Ranger Sgt. Nick Hanna, the lead investigator in the child sexual assault case against Jessop, testified about and read from priesthood and personal records seized in the historic April 2008 raid on the YFZ Ranch. Jessop is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in November 2004 at the ranch.
The prosecution started with Hanna as its first witness more than a week ago and ended with his testimony today in the makeshift courtroom at the Memorial Building in Eldorado.
A Utah marriage certificate showed Jessop was already legally wedded, Hanna testified. Jessop married Mary Musser in August 1994.
Men in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are known to take "celestial" or "spiritual" wives in addition to any legal wives they might have.
All through an afternoon and evening in August 2005, the now imprisoned Warren Jeffs was in contact with the YFZ Ranch, hearing about the difficult labor of a girl who was giving birth at the ranch, Hanna testified, reading from priesthood records. In attendance at the birth was Dr. Lloyd Barlow, a member of the sect and a resident of the ranch, and a midwife blessed with a gift to help birthing mothers.
"They were having such difficulty because they didn't turn to the Lord," Hanna read from priesthood records. "They turned to the doctor. But the doctor turned to the Lord."
The girl gave birth to a daughter. Prosecutors say Jessop fathered the child with the 16-year-old he'd sexually assaulted.
Jurors passed a photograph among themselves of Jessop holding a baby.
In August 2005, the underage girl was listed as a nursing mother in church records, Hanna testified.
If convicted, Jessop could serve two to 20 years in prison. Before the trial began, defense attorney Mark Stevens elected to have his client sentenced by the jury rather than the judge if he is convicted.
Jurors have heard from two DNA experts who testified there was an almost 100 percent probability that Jessop was the father of the child.
They've listened to several Texas Rangers discuss seizing records, photographs and computers from the ranch. They heard one Texas Ranger's story of crawling through a small hole to get into the Temple Annex vault.
They heard testimony Wednesday from a woman who said she was Jessop's cousin.
Rebecca Musser told jurors about growing up, going to school, marrying and the importance of record keeping within the FLDS community.
One's exaltation in heaven depended on good and accurate records of important events and blessings, Musser testified.
Jessop and 11 other FLDS members were indicted on criminal charges after the April 2008 raid at the ranch. But Jessop is the first to go to trial, and evidence seized during the raid has so far figured heavily in the prosecution's case, along with DNA and paternity testing.
The 439 children taken into custody during the raid have since returned to parents or been placed with guardians.
San Angelo Standard-Times staff writer Matthew Waller contributed to this report. E-mail Trish Choate at choatet(at)shns.com
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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