Eldorado, USA - A Texas grand jury indicted three additional members of a polygamous sect after meeting for about six hours Tuesday.
Schleicher County District Clerk Peggy Williams confirmed the indictments but said the identities of those named will not be released until they are served with copies. The Texas Attorney General's Office said each person faces one felony count of sexual assault; two also face bigamy charges.
This is the fourth time the grand jury has convened in Eldorado, Texas, to consider charges against members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The attorney general's office is building cases using documents and other material seized during an April raid on a nearby ranch that is home to sect members.
Officials removed 439 children from the ranch and kept them in state custody for two months. So far, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has dismissed cases involving 300 children. It has just one child, a 14-year-old daughter of ranch overseer Merril Jessop, in custody. The girl was allegedly spiritually married to sect leader Warren S. Jeffs in 2006.
The teenager was returned to custody after Barbara Jessop, her mother, declined last month in court to answer questions about her ability to keep her daughter safe. A status hearing is scheduled in her case for Thursday.
Prosecutors did not call FLDS members as witnesses on Tuesday as they have at past hearings.
Attorney General Greg Abbott praised the effort by Texas Rangers, his staff and Schleicher County for their work in putting the cases together.
So far, the grand jury has indicted five men on sexual assault charges, including Jeffs. Four men also face bigamy charges. A sixth man, Lloyd H. Barlow, faces three misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse.
Williams said the grand jury will meet again Nov. 12 and on Dec. 16. Tom Green County Judge Barbara Walther has extended the jury's term until the end of the year.