In the United States, polygamous cult leader Warren Jeffs has been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes including the sexual abuse of a twelve year old “wife”. Jeffs, a self-styled prophet who led an offshoot of Mormonism based in West Texas, the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, claimed to have 78 wives in all. He also exercised autocratic power in his community and was in the habit of expelling members who declined to hand over their daughters. He treated the case against him in a similarly high-handed manner, dismissing his lawyers and threatening the jury with divine retribution if they convicted him.
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