Utah judge won't dismiss FLDS man's rape charge

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge is refusing to dismiss a rape charge against a man whose 2001 "spiritual marriage" to an underage girl was a basis for the Utah criminal prosecution of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs.

Fifth District Court Judge G. Rand Beacham in St. George ruled Jan. 12 that Allen Glade Steed hasn't proved that a decision by prosecutors to delay filing the case prevents him from getting a fair trial.

Steed was charged with rape in September 2007, one day after a jury convicted Jeffs of two counts of rape as an accomplice.

Steed's attorneys sought a dismissal in October, after the Utah Supreme Court overturned Jeffs' convictions in July.

Steed is a member of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.