This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An attorney representing polygamous sect member Raymond Merril Jessop on Wednesday argued an appeal of his conviction on child sex abuse charges.
A lawyer for Jessop asked the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas, to overturn his conviction and 10-year sentence.
Jessop was the first member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be tried after police in 2008 raided the group's Yearning for Zion ranch in West Texas based on a hoax phone call from a woman claiming to be an abused wife. Jessop was convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl who gave birth to his daughter.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Jessop's attorney, Clinton Broden, argued prosecutors never proved the sexual encounter happened in Texas and had no jurisdiction to prosecute. An attorney for the state, Ed Marshall, said jurors heard enough evidence to convict Jessop.
Jessop is one of 12 FLDS men charged with crimes related to bigamy and underage marriages. All eight men who have come to trial so far have pleaded no contest or have been found guilty. Sect leader and prophet Warren Jeffs was convicted on sexual assault of a child charges in August and is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison.