ELDORADO, Texas (AP) - Jury selection has begun in the trial of a 39-year-old member of a polygamist group who faces a charge of sexual assault of a child.
Abram Harker Jeffs is the sixth man to answer charges related to alleged underage marriages since authorities raided the Yearning For Zion Ranch in 2008. Five others have already been sentenced to prison.
Church documents seized at the ranch in Eldorado indicate Jeffs married a 15-year-old daughter of the ranch's presiding elder in 2005.
He pleaded not guilty, but if he's convicted, Jeffs faces up to life in prison.
He has also been charged with bigamy but will be tried on that later on.
In all, a dozen members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were indicted following the massive raid.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-06-09-10 1139EDT
