| Eight arrested on sex charges All from polygamous Arizona community | ||||||||
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By Dave Hawkins Special to the Review-Journal | ||||||||
KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Eight men from the polygamous community of Colorado City, Ariz., who are charged with sex offenses involving their underage ceremonial wives left the Mohave County Jail in a convoy of three SUVs and a pickup Monday. One of the defendants, David Romaine Bateman, 48, was arrested at his home Friday, and the others surrendered Monday morning. County Attorney Matt Smith said Flagstaff attorney Bruce Griffin called him Monday morning and said a number of indicted defendants would turn themselves in at the jail. The attorneys stipulated that each of the men would be released on bond after they were fingerprinted and photographed. Judge James Chavez scheduled an Aug. 5 case management hearing for Batemen after taking his not guilty plea. Charges vary from defendant to defendant, but many face prosecution for sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Smith has emphasized the cases are not about prosecuting polygamy in Colorado City, located in northern Arizona. Rather, he said, they're about holding male adults accountable for sexual offenses committed upon female minors who become their wives in church-sanctioned marriages not recognized by law. Warren Jeffs, 49, has also been indicted, but he has yet to surrender or be located. He is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the church that controls a trust and most of the property and assets in Colorado City and the neighboring town of Hilldale, Utah. Smith said Jeffs is not charged with physically offending the underage females, but instead is charged as a conspirator for helping arrange the marriages through his position with the church. Defendants released from jail Monday include Bateman, Rodney Hans Holm, 38; Donald Robert Barlow, 48; Vergel Bryce Jessop, 45; Terry Darger Barlow, 23; Dale Evans Barlow, 47; Randolph Joseph Barlow, 32; and Kelly Fischer, 38. | ||||||||
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reviewjournal.com Originally published July 12, 2005 | ||||||||
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