Texas trial dates set for polygamous sect leader

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Trial dates have been set for polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs to face charges of bigamy and sexual assault of a child in Texas.

Prosecutors allege the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had sex with two girls, one under age 14 and the other under age 17.

The San Angelo Standard-Times reports that a judge on Wednesday scheduled a July 25 trial for the sexual assault case and an Oct. 3 trial for the bigamy charge.

Charges against the 55-year-old Jeffs stem from a 2008 raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, when authorities seized and temporarily placed 439 children in state custody.

Seven men in the polygamist sect were eventually convicted of child sexual assault and abuse.

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