Eldorado, Texas » The effort to seat a jury in the first criminal trial stemming from a 2008 investigation at a polygamous sect's West Texas ranch is now entering its third day.

Attorneys have questioned more than 70 of the approximately 130 people still in the jury pool and planned to continue that process Wednesday. There is little indication what progress they are making to seat a panel for the criminal case of Raymond Merril Jessop, 38.

He faces one second-degree felony charge of sexual assault of a child for allegedly impregnating a minor in 2004 who was his spiritual wife. Jessop was charged after authorities conducted an investigation last April at the Yearning For Zion Ranch, home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

On Monday, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther said she hoped to seat a jury by Tuesday. But the individual interviews have dashed that goal.

Each prospective juror is being brought to Walther's bench, where they are interviewed by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Only pieces of the conversations are audible in the courtroom.

The potential jurors apparently are being re-asked many questions raised earlier in a group session and it is not clear what their status is after those interviews.

Walther asked each person whether he or she would have any difficulty considering either a 20-year prison sentence or probation

if a guilty verdict were reached in cases like that involving Jessop. One woman told the judge she couldn't consider probation; like others who appeared to offer that response, her interview ended immediately and she left the courtroom.

The shortest interviews -- ranging from 30 seconds to 45 seconds -- were those of five FLDS members in the jury pool. On Monday, seven of the 17 FLDS in the jury pool said they were blood relatives of Jessop; one, Sarah Draper, was called to testify before the grand jury that indicted Jessop and 11 other FLDS men.

Most interviews lasted about 10 minutes, but some stretched 20 minutes or longer as attorneys appeared to spar over the individual's qualifications, sometimes paging through legal code books. At one point a defense attorney mentioned "plural marriage," a phrase that could be heard at the back of the courtroom; that triggered yet another debate between the lawyers.

There have been several in-chambers discussions during the painstakingly slow process.

Jessop is seated about 15 feet away from the bench, leaning back in his chair and listening intently.

During the afternoon session, FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop sat briefly in the courtroom observing the proceedings, apparently with permission of the judge. A day earlier, he and other spectators were kept out of the room.