Allan Keate

A jury in Schleicher County, Texas, said polygamist Allan Eugene Keate will spend 33 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

The San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times said the jury’s sentence on Thursday came after the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member was convicted of assaulting a 15-year-old girl he claimed as his bride.

State prosecutor Angela Goodwin said during Keate’s trial that Keate, 57, and his teenage victim appeared before FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and the victim was told to remain close with Keate.

“She offered up just a little bit of resistance, and that was squashed,” Goodwin said of the victim, whose identity was not released. Keate also fathered a child with the teenage girl.

The Standard-Times said defense attorney Randy Wilson attempted to portray his client’s actions as those of a man whose religious beliefs allowed him to have multiple wives in service of God.

“Does this sound like a pedophile, or does it sound like a man devoted to God,” Wilson asked the jury during the trial.

Source/Full Story: UPI.com

Four deer in the headlights…

Source: CNN.com

Five members of a polygamous sect who were indicted alongside leader Warren Jeffs last week turned themselves in Monday to face sexual assault charges, Texas authorities said.
From top left, clockwise: Allan Keate, Raymond Jessop, Michael Emack and Merrill Jessop were all indicted.

From top left, clockwise: Allan Keate, Raymond Jessop, Michael Emack and Merrill Jessop were all indicted.

Four of Jeffs’ followers were charged with one count of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 17, and each faces five to 99 years in prison, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said.

One of those four also faces a bigamy charge.

A fifth follower is charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse, he said.

Bail for the defendants facing felony charges — Raymond Merrill Jessop, 36, Allan Eugene Keate, 56, Michael George Emack, 57, and Merrill Leroy Jessop, 33 — was set at $100,000 each. Lloyd Hammon Barlow, 38, charged with the misdemeanor failure to report child abuse, faces a sentence of up to six months in prison and a fine of $2,000 per count.