KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Judge Orders Redaction of Polygamist Documents

Judge Orders Redaction of Polygamist Documents

Staff Report
The Associated Press

ELDORADO, Texas (AP) - A Texas judge is ordering that some documents showing multiple women allegedly married to the same man in a polygamist group be excluded from his trial on charges of child sexual abuse.

District Judge Barbara Walther ordered Tuesday that a document listing one pregnant woman and three nursing mothers, all allegedly married to 38-year-old Raymond Jessop, be redacted. Jurors will only see information about the alleged victim in his sexual assault of a child trial.

Jessop faces a separate bigamy charge but will be tried on that later. His defense attorney argued that any discussion of polygamy was prejudicial and irrelevant.

Walther agreed but has yet to rule on church marriage records that would show Jessop allegedly married the underage girl in the abuse case on the same day he married someone else.

Jessop's trial is the first criminal trial stemming from the raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado last year.