Dr. Sheila Jeffreys of Melbourne, Australia-introduction; and, Dr. Susan Stickevers of New York shares Research

Dear Network:

We welcome to our vast global network, Dr. Sheila Jeffreys, Professor of Politics at the University of Melbourne.  She is writing a book about some of the ways in which religious arguments are being used in opposition to women’s rights; and, wants to argue that polygamy presents very serious harm to women.  She proposes that a law be written that would decriminalize polygamy for women as for the most part they are victims while making it a criminal offense for men.  If any of our legal authorities can help Dr. Jeffreys with any research or suggestions, email:

sheila  @  unimelb.edu.au

And, from New York:

Attached please find two research papers sent to us by Susan M. Stickevers, MD, who is a member of the newly formed Board of Directors of Americans Against the Abuses of Polygamy, www.TripleAP.org , TripleAP  @ gmail.com Dr. Stickevers teaches medicine at SUNY Stony Brook.  She has been feeding us research that this campaign has been longing for since it started!  Following is a profile of this marvelous woman:

Susan Stickevers, MD, of Long Island, New York is an assistant clinical professor at SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. She received her MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, and her Bachelors Degree in Biology summa cum laude from Queens College. She completed her residency training and served as chief resident at Columbia University Medical Center in NY City. She developed an interest in the study of polygamy while treating Muslim women in polygynous relationships in New York City.

Polygyny is a risk factor for cervical cancer, HIV, and sexually transmitted diseases.
See the latest article on the topic which is attached.

Polygyny Increases Risk for Cervical Cancer.pdf

Polygyny_and_Womens_Health.pdf

Raymond Jessop sentenced to 10 years and fined

Dear Network,

I’ve put in bold an interesting fact.  Raymond Jessop was her second “spiritual” husband.  Look at her age when she was “reassigned” to him.  This means she was Raymond’s brother’s “spiritual” wife at the age of 14.

They just can’t bring this cult down fast enough to suit me!

From: Info-Secte [mailto:infosecte@qc.aibn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 6:54 AM
To: Info-Secte
Subject: 10 years for polygamist sect member in sex assault

10 years for polygamist sect member in sex assault

(AP) – November 10, 2009

ELDORADO, Texas — The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial following the raid of a West Texas ranch was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting an underage girl with whom he had a so-called “spiritual marriage.”

Jurors who last week convicted Raymond Jessop, 38, handed down the sentence that includes an $8,000 fine. His attorneys had sought probation for the conviction that could have brought him up to 20 years in prison.

Jessop, who prosecutors allege has nine wives, still faces a separate bigamy charge to be tried later. He is the first member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to go on trial since authorities raided the sect’s Yearning For Zion Ranch in April 2008.

The girl in the assault case, now 21, was previously in a spiritual marriage with Jessop’s brother before being “reassigned” to Jessop when she was 15, according to documents seized at the ranch. She became pregnant at age 16.

An appeal, planned “as quickly as it can be filed,” will challenge the search warrants initially obtained with what authorities now acknowledge were false calls to a domestic abuse hot line, said Willie Jessop, an FLDS spokesman and Raymond Jessop’s distant cousin.

“We believe he will be released when the government is held accountable,” Willie Jessop said in an interview Tuesday.

The weeklong ranch raid was hounded by missteps early on. After scouring the ranch for days in April 2008 in search of a caller who claimed to be an abused girl, law enforcement acknowledged “Sarah Barlow” didn’t exist.

Forensic experts who testified during Raymond Jessop’s trial said there was a nearly 100 percent probability Jessop fathered the now 4-year-old daughter of the woman in the case. The woman was on the prosecution’s witness list at trial, but did not testify.

Eleven other sect members, including its jailed leader Warren Jeffs, still face separate trials for charges ranging from failure to report child abuse to sexual assault and bigamy.

The FLDS is a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago and does not recognize the FLDS.

Jeffs, revered by the FLDS as the group’s prophet, has been convicted in Utah as an accomplice to rape. He awaits trial in Arizona on charges related to underage marriages there. He’ll then face separate sexual assault and bigamy charges in Texas.

Jeffs led followers six years ago to buy a 1,700-acre Texas ranch, where they built a towering limestone temple and sprawling log cabin homes. They remained an insular group until Texas authorities raided the ranch and swept 439 sect children into foster care.

Appellate courts forced the return of the children to their parents or other relatives, but documents seized in the raid were used to build criminal cases against sect men.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hBU8uyQITnik8O4KnPAr1aXka0PAD9BT1RK80