Salt Lake City, USA - A coalition of Utah and Arizona polygamous groups is denouncing the acts of sexual assault alleged during the Texas trial of Warren Jeffs.
The Principle Rights Coalition issued a statement Thursday saying its members are devastated that child sexual abuse may have been perpetrated under the cloak of their religion.
"Those who commit such crimes must be held accountable," the statement reads.
The coalition represents five polygamous groups—the Apostolic United Brethren, Centennial Park, the Davis County Cooperative Society, the Neilson-Naylor community—and a network of so-called "independents" who practice polygamy but do not affiliate with any specific church.
The statement was issued hours before a Texas jury convicted Jeffs on sexual assault charges stemming from allegations of wrongdoings with two underage girls from his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Prosecutors said the 55-year-old Jeffs married and had sexual relations with girls as young as 12.
Jeffs represented himself at trial. He now faces a life prison sentence.
"This is not common practice, marrying underage girls of 12 and 15," coalition co-founder Anne Wilde said. "I really hope people can make this distinction. This is not our lifestyle. This is about one person, not about our religious belief system. He does not represent us.
An estimated 38,000 self-described Mormon fundamentalists live across Utah and the Intermountain West. The practice is a legacy of early Mormon church teachings, which held that plural marriage brings exaltation in heaven. The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned the practice in 1890 as a condition of Utah's statehood.
Wilde said none of the coalition members support underage or forced marriages, tax evasion, welfare fraud or other stereotypical crimes commonly associated with polygamy.
The coalition is part of the advocacy group Principle Voices, which has worked for 10 years to educate the public and state agencies in Utah and Arizona about the culture.
Most polygamists keep their way of life secret out of fear of prosecution on bigamy charges.
The coalition notes in its statement that such secrecy may have cultivated an environment that concealed abuse. The coalition suggests that the current abuse allegations provide a basis for the "necessity of decriminalizing plural, consenting-adult relationships" so individuals in need of help will feel safe contacting authorities.