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Testimony Resumes In Polygamist Sect Case

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Nov 2, 2009 12:27 pm US/Central

Testimony Resumes In Polygamist Sect Case

ELDORADO (AP) ― Testimony has resumed in the first criminal trial stemming from the 2008 raid of a polygamist group's West Texas ranch.

Jurors were sent home Thursday after a child of one juror came down with flulike symptoms, but on Monday all 12 jurors and two alternates were back in court.

They began hearing from a forensic expert and others in the trial of 38-year-old Raymond Jessop. The member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is on trial for sexual assault of a child. Prosecutors say he impregnated a 16-year-old who was among his nine alleged wives.

Forensic expert Amy Smuts said two sets of genetic tests showed Jessop's genetic markers matched those of the alleged victim's daughter.

Jessop, who could face up to 20 years in prison, is the first of a dozen FLDS men to face trial after authorities raided their Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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