TX - Allen Keate for raping, impregnating 15yo girl, Eldorado, 2008

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091218...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdGV4YXNwb2x5Z2Ft

"ELDORADO, Texas – The Texas attorney general's office says a 57-year-old member of a polygamist group has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for the sexual assault of a child.

The office says in a statement that a jury decided Thursday on the punishment for Allan Eugene Keate, the second member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be convicted on that charge.

The jury at a court in Eldorado, West Texas, deliberated for under two hours Tuesday before convicting Keate for his "spiritual marriage" to a 15-year-old girl who gave birth at age 16."

Missizzy said:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091218...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdGV4YXNwb2x5Z2Ft

"ELDORADO, Texas – The Texas attorney general's office says a 57-year-old member of a polygamist group has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for the sexual assault of a child.

The office says in a statement that a jury decided Thursday on the punishment for Allan Eugene Keate, the second member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be convicted on that charge.

The jury at a court in Eldorado, West Texas, deliberated for under two hours Tuesday before convicting Keate for his "spiritual marriage" to a 15-year-old girl who gave birth at age 16."

Click to expand...

Thanks for the update, MissIzzy -- it appears the raid on the YFZ compound was not in vain & merely a ruse to persecute this group...IIRC, there's a few more trials waiting in the wings.

I just wanted to mention that Mr. Keate had six wives, aged 17-49 at the time of his arrest in 2007. The crime, for which he was convicted, was for the sexual assault of a child--one of his "spiritual" wives, whom he "married" at age 15. The child gave birth at age 16.

The man was most likely raping the child from the young age of 15 up through the time of his arrest when she was 17. So, a little girl of 15 was raped and went on to give birth at the age of 16. Where were this child's parents? This little girl was young enough to be her "spiritual" husband's granddaughter.

Child rapist, plain and simple. The words "spiritual" and "sexual assault of a child" really should not be in the same sentence IMO.

MissIzzy there is a forum on this group and their "ideals" are well known. The parents were probably at the wedding.

In this group the leaders arrange the marriages and order the people (at least the girl) to marry. (Rumor has it that Warren Jeffs uses an agricultural "breeding chart" to determine who can wed who. They become "sister" wives married in the church, usually just one of many. It is a very paternalistic society, and totally ruled by the alleged "church." The parents may or may not have been informed of the girl's upcoming nuptials prior to the wedding. If they didn't cooperate with the girl's wedding, they would be ostracized not only from the wedding but also from the community and kicked out of their homes.

Now with the girls being married off to the older men, think about what is happening with the younger men. If they make complaints or any waves or don't cooperate with a smile they are also kicked out. Sometimes they are told to leave their homes, their families.... sometimes they are just driven out into the countryside and kicked out of the car and told not to come back.

You might wonder who delivers all those children's babies? Yeah, they have a doc. He is also FLDS and he allegedly didn't report on a lot of things like babies born to minor girls.

The story of the raid on the ranch community and the lengths the community went to hide these marriages is pretty outrageous.

Here's the FLDS forum. I hadn't been in there for a while. It looks like they also got a conviction on Raymond Jessup.

[ame="http://websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=145"]FLDS Raids and Related Items - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]

Mysteriew--Thanks for the link to the forum and the information. Before I became a member of WS, I was really too ill to do much computer time each day. I did, however, follow the case in Texas as much as possible. I was interested not only because of the systemic abuse allegations but also because of DHS's response. Due to my background in child advocacy, I'm always interested in how cases like this are handled.

I hadn't heard about the "breeding chart". That is downright appalling. I guess, though, when you think about it, it would be necessary to cut back on genetic faults through first line incest. Yuck.

Yes, Jessup got a conviction too. For all the outcry about DHS taking a iron fist approach against the FLDS, I'm of the belief that the upheaval was worth it. We now have irrefutable proof that child rape was occurring and was accepted in this community. Now, that there have been two convictions, will there be an outcry to stop this abuse? Will Yearning for Zion be allowed to continue or will it be dismantled?

I have a theory that the Mohler case could possibly play into the Texas case in some way. I happen to believe that it's going to be much further ranging than it is at the moment. JMO

Oh I think we will be seeing quite a few more convictions among the members. And don't forget their leader, Jeffs is in prison for quite a while. He is the one who was making the decisions of who should be marrying who and when.

So once the rest are imprisoned, that should greatly reduce the danger. Many of the women will be forced out into the world, because the community would have a huge difficulty supporting them and their families on the reduced income with the men in prison.

With the right leadership and a ban on plural marriages, they could easily survive and prosper as a religous community. But with the wrong leadership and without the policy change, they will continue to have their community eroded and their men imprisoned. Of course that might even help them as they claim martyrdom