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Oil boom creates job openings for teachers

Last updated Friday, March 30, 2012 - 2:27pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The West Texas oil boom is boosting school enrollment and luring experienced teachers out of the classrooms, making room for others seeking teaching work.

Business, Jobs, Oil industry, Teachers, Teaching Read more Comments

Ex-FLDS leader's bigamy trial gets new Texas judge

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 2, 2012 - 7:12am

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The West Texas judge assigned to the bigamy trial of a former lieutenant to polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has been replaced.

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Warren Jeffs' followers divided over loyalty orders

Matthew Waller Standard Times

Last updated Friday, January 6, 2012 - 12:53pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The New Year's deadline given to followers to prove their faithfulness to imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs came and went, and the dust has yet to settle.

Polygamy, Prison, Religion, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Sexual abuse suit against priest who hanged himself settled

Jennifer Rios Standard Times

Last updated Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 1:07pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Diocese of San Angelo Bishop Michael Pfeifer said the recent settlement of a sexual abuse lawsuit against the diocese in no way meant it accepted the accusations against one of its former priests.

Child Sex Abuse, Crime, Catholic Church, Lawsuit, Priest, Priest sex abuse, National Read more Comments

Attorney: FLDS 'sealing' not the same as marriage

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 5:27pm

ROBERT LEE, Texas -- An attorney for a polygamist ex-bishop told jurors that the act of "sealing" as practiced by a Warren Jeffs-led polygamous group differs from a marriage ceremony as defined by Texas law.

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Ex-FLDS president takes plea deal on bigamy charge

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 11:25am

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A former leader in the polygamist church run by Warren Jeffs has pleaded no contest to charges of bigamy in exchange for probation.

Bigamy, Courts, Polygamy, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Warren Jeffs seeks new trial

Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 12:59pm

SALT LAKE CITY — Imprisoned polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has filed a handwritten motion seeking a new trial in Texas after he was convicted there and sentenced to life in prison on child sex assault charges.

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Jeffs' prison 'fasting' puts him in critical condition

Matthew Waller Standard Times

Last updated Monday, August 29, 2011 - 3:24pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has returned to the practice of damaging his own health in prison.

Polygamy, Prison, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Multistate polygamy task force proposed

Kiah Collier Standard Times

Last updated Monday, August 22, 2011 - 1:40pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- On June 11, 2008, top cops from Arizona, Nevada and Utah walked out of a meeting in Las Vegas excited about the prospect of banding together with federal authorities for a multistate effort to fight crimes related to polygamy.

The task force still hasn't materialized.

Federal authorities apparently remain cool to the idea, but state officials in Texas, Nevada and Utah remain hopeful. They see a glaring need for a coordinated state-federal effort to investigate allegations ranging from tax evasion to the sexual assault of underage "celestial" brides in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Crime, Polygamy, Task force, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2011, file photo Texas Ranger Capt. Brooks Long, center in cowboy hat, listens as State prosecutor Eric Nichols, right, reads a statement in front of the courthouse in San Angelo, Texas, following the sentencing of polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs begins serving a life sentence this week, brought down by damning evidence ultimately uncovered and revealed in court. Long, who steered the investigation through scrutiny and even the doubts of some lawmakers, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, that he feels vindicated. (AP Photo/San Angelo Standard-Times, Patrick Dove, File)

Texas Ranger says FLDS raid vindicated by Jeffs conviction

Michelle Roberts, Paul J. Weber The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, August 12, 2011 - 10:13am

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Investigators made no mention of child sex tapes, or seized photos of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs kissing young girls, after their April 2008 raid on the sect’s remote Texas compound. Instead, the public saw the televised spectacle of more than 400 children being bused from the ranch over an abuse hotline call that proved to be bogus.

As Jeffs begins serving a life sentence, brought down by damning evidence seized at the ranch and finally revealed in court, the Texas Ranger who led the heavily scrutinized raid and investigation said he feels vindicated.

Courts, Polygamy, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Ex-FLDS spokesman says church should accept blame for Jeffs' abuse

Kiah Collier Standard Times

Last updated Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 2:15pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The former spokesman for the FLDS polygamist sect said the church should accept some blame for sexual and other abuses that allegedly occurred at their west Texas ranch.

Ex-spokesman Willie Jessop, who has faced a steady level of scrutiny for claiming he was unaware of the sexual abuse, said the church should accept some culpability and that he would return to the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, only on certain conditions.

Polygamy, Prison, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is escorted into the Tom Green County Courthouse, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. The jury in Jeffs' sexual assault trial is set to hear closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial and could issue up to 119 years in prison. (AP Photo/San Angelo Standard-Times, Patrick Dove)

Jeffs gets life in prison for child sex assaults

Paul J. Weber The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, August 9, 2011 - 1:11pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for sexually assaulting two underage followers he took as brides in what his church deemed "spiritual marriages."

The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stood quietly as the decision of the Texas jury was read Tuesday. He received the maximum sentence on both counts.

Prosecutor Eric Nichols had asked the jury for a life sentence, saying the case was "a prosecution to protect people." Jurors deliberated less than half an hour.

Courts, Polygamy, Warren Jeffs, National Read more Comments

Photo shows Jeffs riding Harley, wearing Guinness cap

Paul J. Weber The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, August 8, 2011 - 3:34pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A Texas jury has seen photos of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and wearing novelty T-shirts and a baseball cap with a Guinness beer logo.

The photos shown Monday during the sentencing phase of Jeffs' child sex assault trial were a contrast to the modest, conservative attired favored by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Courts, Polygamy, Warren Jeffs, FLDS Church, National Read more Comments

Warren Jeffs is taken into the side entrance of the Tom Green County Courthouse, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 in San Angelo, Texas. Jurors convicted Jeffs last week of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, whom he'd taken as brides. He faces up to life in prison. Jeffs has led the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints since 2002. (AP Photo/ San Angelo Standard-Times, Patrick Dove)

Jeffs jurors hear more sex tapes

Paul J. Weber The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, August 8, 2011 - 2:22pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Softly telling five girls to "set aside all your inhibitions," convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was heard Monday giving his child brides instructions on how to please him sexually during a graphic 10-minute tape played for a Texas jury.

An FBI agent testified that the 2004 audiotape, in which Jeffs is heard breathing heavily, preceded Jeffs having sex at the same time with all the girls, who were 15 and younger. Several jurors squirmed or wiped away tears during the sometimes-scratchy recording.

Jeffs faces life in prison after being convicted by the same jury last week of sexually assaulting two of his "brides," who were 12 and 15. The sentencing phase of his trial is expected to finish early this week.

Prosecutors showed a page from one of Jeffs’ journals.

Courts, Polygamy, Warren Jeffs, National Read more Comments

Polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs, front, is helped out of a sheriffs vehicle as he arrives at the Tom Green County Courthouse for the sentencing phase of his sexual assault trial Friday Aug. 5, 2011, in San Angelo, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Jeffs walks out of sentencing hearing

Will Weissert The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, August 5, 2011 - 3:15pm

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A polygamist sect leader convicted of child sexual assault walked out of his sentencing hearing in protest Friday, after reading a statement he claimed was from God. The statement promised a "whirlwind of judgment" on the world if God's "humble servant" wasn't set free.

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