Warren Jeffs hospitalized after fasting

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Weak and lethargic from fasting, polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs was recently taken to a hospital by Arizona authorities.

Mohave County sheriff's office spokeswoman Trish Carter says Jeffs spent nearly three hours at the Kingman Regional Medical Center last week. He's now back in the Mohave County Jail.

Jail Commander Bruce Brown said the spiritual leader of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church had been steadily fasting since Sept. 11. Jeffs had experienced rapid weight loss. The jail has asked its attorneys about the feasibility of a court order to have Jeffs force-fed if necessary, Brown said in a conversation with the Tri-State News Network.

The jail has also imposed a 15-minute, three-times-a-day limit on the time Jeffs can spend on his knees in prayer. Jeffs has refused to comply with the order and jail officials have used soft restraints to restrict him to bed, Brown said.

"We have had to have staff literally pick him up off his knees and place him on his bed and then use soft restraints on his bed to keep him so he can't get off his bed," Brown said.

Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona on charges related to two underage marriages he conducted. In 2007, he was convicted by a Utah jury of being an accomplice to rape in connection with the underage marriage of a 14-year-old follower. He's also been indicted by a Texas grand jury on sexual assault charges for an alleged relationship with an underage bride in 2006.

This is the third time the 52-year-old church leader has been hospitalized since he was arrested in June 2006. Jeffs was hospitalized in January 2007 after a suicide attempt while in a Utah jail following a fast lasting several days. In June of this year, another caused Jeffs' physical difficulties that forced authorities to fly him to a Las Vegas hospital.

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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