FLDS leader Jeffs is facing fugitive charge in St. George court

Captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is scheduled to appear in court today, facing a charge of being a fugitive from justice.

Jeffs is scheduled to make a brief appearance in St. George's 5th District Court this afternoon via closed circuit TV-hookup from the Purgatory Jail in Hurricane.

Prosecutors in Arizona have indicated they will probably wait to bring Jeffs back to face charges there.

"At this time, I don't have any information on when Warren Jeffs is coming to Arizona," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "It looks like Utah will probably go first but nothing has been determined yet."

Jeffs, 50, is facing charges in Kingman, Ariz., accusing him of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of forcing teenage girls into polygamous marriages with older men.

A pair of warrants have been issued for Jeffs' arrest out of Arizona.

The Fundamentalist LDS Church leader is also facing criminal charges in Utah of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of arranging a child-bride marriage between a teenage girl and an older man. When the girl objected to the marriage, prosecutors said Jeffs threatened the woman's "eternal salvation."

Jeffs is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 21 for a preliminary hearing on those charges.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com