Barbara Steed Jessop, 56, died at the YFZ Ranch on Tuesday, December 8, 2009. She was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace James. C. Doyle at 7:15 p.m. that evening. He reports the death was from natural causes. Dr. Lloyd Barlow was in attendance. Ms. Jessop was the third plural wife of YFZ Ranch overseer Frederick Merril Jessop. She was the mother of 14 children including YFZ defendant Merril Leroy Jessop. She gained prominence as the mother of of the last of the YFZ Ranch children to be returned from state custody following the 2008 CPS and law enforcement raid on the ranch. The child, a 14-year-old girl, was allegedly given in marriage to FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs when she was only 12.
Keate found guilty of sexual abuse of a child
Thursday, 17 December 2009 00:00
A Schleicher County jury deliberated 90-minutes Tuesday before finding Allan Eugene Keate, 57, guilty of Sexual Abuse of a Child. He is the second YFZ Ranch defendant to be convicted on such a charge since the now famous raid on ranch in April of 2008. The case revolved around DNA evidence which Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols used to prove Keate fathered a child with his under aged victim who was determined to be one of his polygamous wives. Meanwhile, documents seized during the raid were used to place Keate and the alleged victim at the YFZ Ranch when the child was conceived. For their part, defense attorneys Randy Wilson and Don Payne offered the jury very little in the way of an alternate theory of the crime and called only two witnesses, John Walsh, an authority of the mainline Mormon church, and Sheriff David Doran. Neither of the men seemed to help Keate's case.
Schleicher County jurors deliberated five hours last Thursday evening before sentencing Allan Keate to 33 years in prison for his conviction a charge of Sexual Abuse of a Child. As many as 17 YFZ Ranch residents were in attendance for portions of the trial. Keate was found guilty two days earlier following a week-long trial. And, at his request, the jury was charged with determining a sentence. The jurors did so after hearing testimony during the trial’s penalty phase, which began on Wednesday morning, December 16th. Among those testifying were two former FLDS members Carolyn Jessop and Rebecca Musser. Each of the women left the fundamentalist Mormon faith, but under very different circumstances.
Raymond Merril Jessop's attorney, Mark Stevens of San Antonio has filed a motion for a new trial. Among other things, Stevens asserts that Jessop's guilty verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence. Specifically, that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to permit any rational juror to find his client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Stevens also argues that Jessop's indictment should have been set aside because Hispanics were substantially underrepresented on the grand jury that indicted Mr. Jessop. He further alleges that Hispanic's have been substantially excluded from grand juries in Schleicher County for more than ten years, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
A Schleicher County jury deliberated 90-minutes Tuesday before finding Allan Eugene Keate, 57, guilty of Sexual Abuse of a Child. He is the second YFZ Ranch defendant to be convicted on such a charge since the now famous raid on ranch in April of 2008.
Schleicher County jurors deliberated five hours last Thursday evening before sentencing Allan Keate to 33 years in prison for his conviction a charge of Sexual Abuse of a Child. As many as 17 YFZ Ranch residents were in attendance for portions of the trial.