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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The woman at the center of a criminal case involving polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was 14 when forced into a marriage with her first cousin, a source close to the case said Friday.
At Jeffs' direction, she was married despite her objections in 2001 to the cousin, who was older than 18, the source close to the woman told The Associated Press.
The marriage was monogamous, not polygamous, the source said.
"It was child abuse, plain and simple," said the source, who asked not to be identified to protect the woman's identity.
Jeffs, 50, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a southern Utah-based church.
In April, Washington County prosecutors charged Jeffs with two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in the marriage. A fugitive for nearly two years, Jeffs was arrested in August during a traffic stop near Las Vegas.
Washington County prosecutor Brock Belnap has said repeatedly that the case was about child abuse and not an attack on polygamy, which is practiced by the FLDS church. Jeffs' defense attorney, Walter Bugden, after a September court hearing, said his client contends the case if one of religious persecution.
No charges have been filed against the woman's husband, although Belnap has said he has not ruled out filing additional charges related to the Jeffs case.
The case is one of several filed over the past two years that reflect a renewed state interest in prosecuting alleged abuses of women and children who are members of Utah or Arizona religious sects that practice polygamy, some of which have involved underage girls.
Jeffs is facing Arizona charges similar to those filed against him in Utah.
Telephone messages left at Belnap's office and home on Friday by the AP were not immediately returned.
Criminal court documents filed in 5th District Court identify Jeffs' alleged victim only as Jane Doe No. 4 and Belnap's office has refused to give details about her.
That includes declining comment last week when Salt Lake City attorney Roger Hoole said Jane Doe was his client, M.J., filed a civil lawsuit in December 2005 that seeks damages from an FLDS church trust. The lawsuit alleges she, as a minor, was forced into a marriage with an adult man.
Jane Doe is expected to testify at a Nov. 21 preliminary hearing in St. George when a judge will decide if Washington County prosecutors have enough evidence to move the Jeffs case to trial.
Court documents allege Jane Doe told Jeffs before the religious ceremony that she was too young to marry. Later she said she disliked engaging in marital relations, court papers said.
Prosecutors contend Jeffs told her it was her religious duty to marry and that her eternal salvation was at risk if she refused.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
