Thanks for your question:
>>>Please tell me how you know that he need not have been present to be convicted of being an accomplice to rape?
It’s a good question, I’ll try to lay out the facts.
It was two points I was making: He didn’t/doesn’t have to be present to order a marriage and he was convicted of being accomplice to rape of a 14 year old girl.
He was tried and found guilty on two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in arranging a 2002 marriage between a 14-year-old girl.
I saw an interview with the victim. She said she was told she was to be married and she begged Jeffs not to do this. I think it’s clear, she did meet/know Jeffs or was able to communicate with him.
Jeffs is scheduled to be tried in Arizona on sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of three teenage girls to older men.
Now, whether he was present or would have to be present at such a wedding to be convicted, I don’t know.
The second point was he need not be present to order criminal activity.
There are 6-10 thousand members in three states and Canada; and I’ve read elsewhere from at least a couple of sources that women who never saw Jeffs in person were told they were to marry because the Prophet had decided.
>>>Also, what happened to the girls parents? They would have a legal duty to protect an underage girl.
As far as I know nothing happened to her parents.
>>>It would do far more to end the abuses people are describing if the parents are treated severely for permitting such abuse
A very good point. However, something that struck me in reading about the various prosecutions was difficult it was concerning who was who and where they were and how to find them. Besides their record keeping, they also have members in government positions, and disappear across borders quite easily and quickly.
I don’t know if any attempt was made to prosecute this girls parents. It’s a very interesting question to me. I’ll see if I can find more information and let you know if I do.
thanks for your post.
If not, then that is truly an outrage. The parents have the prime duty to the girl. Finding some religious nutball who will encourage people to do stupid and illegal things will forever be an easy thing to do. The only protection from such evil people is the presumption that responsible people will be just that; responsible.
The defense, "I was just following orders", is not supposed to carry weight when the person knows the order is unlawful.