Polygamist sect leader gives DNA samples

AUSTIN, Texas – Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, jailed in Arizona on several counts of incest and sexual assault of a child, has surrendered DNA samples to law enforcement officials investigating allegations of sexual conduct with underage girls at the group’s West Texas compound, officials confirmed Friday.

Jeffs, 52, is revered as a prophet by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, the polygamist sect embroiled in a child custody tug-of-war with the state of Texas. The group’s Yearning for Zion Ranch was raided by law enforcement on April 3, although the Texas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state overreached its authority by rounding up more than 400 children after allegations of child sex abuse.

A top official from the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott traveled to Kingman, Ariz., Thursday to obtain DNA swabs from Jeffs.

According to a warrant, Jeffs “married” a 14-year-old girl in Utah on Jan. 18, 2004, and that girl gave birth to Jeffs’ child in October 2005.

The warrant also alleges that Jeffs sexually assaulted a 12-year-old child on July 27, 2006, at the ranch, married a 14-year-old girl there on July 22, 2004, and married a 12-year-old girl there on April 16, 2005.