http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:40:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23867/raymond-jessop-convicted http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23867/raymond-jessop-convicted#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:22:26 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23867 Raymond M. Jessop, one of the leaders of a polygamist sect was convicted Thursday night of sexually assaulting an under-age girl whom the church elders had assigned to him as one of his nine wives.

The state used birth records, a marriage certificate and FLDS church records to show Jessop, already married, took the girl as a spiritual wife in 2004 when she was 16. [video] ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23867/raymond-jessop-convicted/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23827/raymond-jessop-flds-polygamy-trial http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23827/raymond-jessop-flds-polygamy-trial#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:36:14 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23827 The first of a dozen polygamist sect members charged with abuse of women stands trial Monday, 18 months after agents raided the group's remote ranch and carted off more than 400 children in the largest child-custody case in American history.

Raymond Jessop, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of sexual assault of a child, a charge stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He will be tried later on a separate count of bigamy related to a second alleged underage bride.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23827/raymond-jessop-flds-polygamy-trial/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23807/flds-united-effort-plan-supreme-court-challenge http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23807/flds-united-effort-plan-supreme-court-challenge#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:25:21 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23807 A polygamous sect is asking the Utah Supreme Court to overturn a state court decision that stripped the religious purposes from its communal land trust.

In a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints say making the United Effort Plan Trust secular was a violation of the faith's constitutionally protected religious rights. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23807/flds-united-effort-plan-supreme-court-challenge/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23740/evidence-obtained-in-raid-on-flds-sect-ok http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23740/evidence-obtained-in-raid-on-flds-sect-ok#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:31:17 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23740 raid of a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch in upcoming criminal trials even though search warrants were prompted by faked reports of abuse, AP reports.

Attorneys for FLDS sect men charged after the April 2008 raid had sought to have the documents — including family photos, records of multiple marriages and journal entries by jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs — kept out of their trials because they were obtained using search warrants that relied on false reports to a domestic abuse hotline.

The defendants argued law enforcement officials were looking for an excuse to raid the Yearning For Zion Ranch and did little to check the reports before rummaging through the ranch's homes and other buildings.

Prosecutors disputed that claim, saying law enforcement officials believed the reports were real at the time of the search.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23740/evidence-obtained-in-raid-on-flds-sect-ok/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23536/berry-knoll-farm http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23536/berry-knoll-farm#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:04:42 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23536 A Utah judge suggested Wednesday she may offer a polygamous sect's historic farm to the highest bidder -- a sale hundreds of FLDS members gathered outside the Matheson Courthouse Wednesday to oppose.

Salt Lake City accountant Bruce R. Wisan, who has overseen the trust for the past four years, wants to sell the farm property to solve the trust's "liquidity" crisis. The trust has debts of about $3 million, mostly in fees owed to Wisan's firm and that of his attorneys.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23536/berry-knoll-farm/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:56:49 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23379 1 year after the raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch, just one child remains in state custody. Twelve men face criminal charges related to underage marriages; the first trial is set for October. A new legislative committee is set to explore "lessons learned" from the raid, which has cost upward of $15 million.

Texas authorities resolutely defend their actions as necessary for the children's safety. And members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints remain as firmly committed to their faith as ever.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23379/flds-raid-one-year-later/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:41:01 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23363 In January, the RCMP charged two prominent members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C., with practising polygamy.

The lawyer for one of them has vowed to cite his client's religious freedom as a defence, leading some legal and constitutional experts to speculate the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23363/canada-defends-polygamy-ban/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:20:15 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23318 Texas child welfare authorities are accusing a 17-year-old girl from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch of switching babies to avoid having to undergo a DNA test.

In a court filing in San Angelo, Texas, made public on Monday, Child Protective Services urges a judge to cancel a Friday hearing over the girl and order her to undergo a psychological evaluation.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23318/flds-mother-accused-of-switching-babies-in-effort-to-avoid-dna-test/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:44:47 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23268 The arrests in Canada last month of two fundamentalist Mormon leaders are bringing renewed interest to their polygamous communities near Creston, B.C., and loyal followers living just across the border in Idaho’s Boundary County.

Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, who now head factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada, face prison terms if convicted of violating that country’s polygamy laws.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23268/flds-bountiful-polygamy/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23265/elissa-wall-lawsuit http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23265/elissa-wall-lawsuit#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:36:45 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23265 A fiduciary overseeing a polygamous sect's trust has sued the parents, a sister and former husband of Elissa Wall, saying they, not the trust, are responsible for her forced marriage at age 14.

He argues that any damages that may have resulted from her 2001 marriage to Allen Steed were "primarily and ultimately" caused by their failure to act.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23265/elissa-wall-lawsuit/feed 0