Polygamist must register as a sex offender for 3 years

A Colorado City polygamist has been ordered to register as a sex offender for three years after he was sentenced for having sex with a teenage girl.

Dale Barlow, 48, was sentenced Friday in Mohave County (Arizona) Superior Court. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, a class-6 felony. Barlow was given three years on probation and ordered to serve 45 days in the Mohave County Jail.

Barlow is one of eight members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church charged with sex crimes in Mohave County, Ariz. Three were convicted, one was acquitted and the charges were dropped against two.

Rodney Holm, 40, is scheduled to go on trial in September. The Hildale man was convicted in Utah of bigamy, and the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year refused to hear his appeal.

The men are all believed to be followers of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who was recently indicted by a Mohave County grand jury on sexual misconduct and incest charges, accusing him of arranging child-bride marriages, sometimes involving relatives. Jeffs, 51, is scheduled to go on trial in St. George's 5th District Court on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. In that case, he is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com