Jeffs follower charged with rape of child bride

From Amanda Townsend and Gary Tuchman CNN

Allen Steed dabs his eyes as he testifies about his ill-fated marriage at Warren Jeffs' trial.   Elissa Wall, the reluctant child bride, says she came forward to give other girls and women hope.   FLDS leader Warren Jeffs will be sentenced November 20 on two counts of rape by accomplice. ST. GEORGE, Utah (CNN) -- A young man whose arranged marriage to a young cousin led to the conviction of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was charged Wednesday with her rape. Prosecutors filed the rape charge against Allen Steed, 26, a day after a jury found Jeffs guilty of two rape-accomplice counts in connection with Steed's ill-fated 2001 marriage to Elissa Wall. Jurors found that Jeffs used his authority as leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, to push the girl into a marriage she did not want. Steed was 19 and his bride, who also was his first cousin, was 14 when Jeffs "sealed" them in spiritual marriage at a motel in Caliente, Nevada, where many FLDS weddings were performed. Three other couples also were married that day in separate ceremonies, according to testimony. Steed is accused of having sex with the girl against her will several weeks into the marriage. Steed testified for the defense at Jeffs' trial. He said his new wife was affectionate to him in private, but cold in public. He denied that he or Jeffs had forced sex on her. Wall agreed to be identified publicly as the trial ended in hopes of encouraging other women who feel trapped by polygamy to come forward. She testified that she told Steed she was not ready and that her first sexual encounter made her feel dirty, used and trapped. Her pleas to church leaders to end the marriage were ignored, and Jeffs told her to submit "mind, body and soul" to her new husband, Wall told the jury. Her sisters testified that most of the women in the family also opposed the marriage but were powerless to stop it. According to the criminal complaint, the trial established that the pair had sex and that the young woman had convinced jurors she did not consent. Wall left the marriage and the FLDS in 2004. She is now remarried. An attorney for Steed could not be reached. Jeffs, 51, leads the 10,000-member FLDS, which is based in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Followers believe him to be God's prophet, who can lead them to eternal salvation. Jeffs could be sent to prison for the rest of his life when he is sentenced November 20.

CNN.com Originally published Wednesday, September 26, 2007

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