Religion Poor Excuse for Sexual Abuse of Children

COMMENTARY | After only three and a half hours of deliberation in the trial of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the jury returned to the court room with a guilty conviction on sexual assault against two children, according to NBC/MSNBC.

The children Jeffs is guilty of assaulting had been taken as "spiritual wives." Jeffs has continuously insisted that his right to religious freedom protects his right to practice polygamy, as well as forcing children into having sex.

Prosecutors in the case played a recording of Jeffs' rape of a 12-year-old girl to the jury; the accused responded by reading part of the Book of Mormon, as well as entering the book into evidence. Apparently Jeffs recorded everything he did, including having sex, which turned out to be fortunate for the prosecution.

It sickens me that a man who claimed to be a prophet for his God uses religion not only as an excuse for violence against children but as a way to control thousands of people. Jeffs has been leading sermons over the phone from jail to his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints during most of his incarceration.

Willie Jessop, who was once Jeffs' aide, said, "He is a very wicked man and he's confessed to doing some very terrible things, including molesting his daughter and sister and others. I think his own words describe himself more than I would care to characterize it," according to CNN.

In addition to the aggravated assault against the 12-year-old, prosecutors used DNA evidence to show that Jeffs had produced a child with a 15-year-old girl. The sentencing phase could take several days, and prosecutors said they will show evidence that Jeffs had a total of 79 wives, including his one legal spouse. 24 of his wives were under 17 years old. Jeffs could, and should, receive a life sentence.

The Principle Rights Coalition, which represents several polygamist groups, said in a written statement, "It is especially devastating to discover that sexual assault of young children may have occurred behind the false pretense of a religious ideology. If any members of our communities are in fact guilty, we fully support their being brought to justice."

Warren Jeffs is not the only person to have used religion as an excuse for sexual violence. There have been many cults over the years which have abused thousands of innocent children.

David Koresh told his followers that he was Jesus and had sex with girls only 12 or 13 years old. The Children of God cult is another well-known group that was infamous for sexual violence. Girls who were as young as 10 years old were forced into having sex with males. They were told if they weren't willing to "share of themselves" that they didn't love God enough.

True evil can be found in the face of these men. Warren Jeffs is no doubt among them.