FLDS ranch leader to give deposition in child custody case

The head of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch is scheduled give a deposition in an ongoing custody dispute over the 17-year-old daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.

Frederick Merril Jessop is expected to be questioned by the court-appointed attorney for Teresa Jeffs on Friday. FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop is scheduled to give a deposition in San Angelo, Texas, on Monday.

Jeffs' attorney ad litem, Natalie Malonis, subpoenaed the men earlier this month in connection with the ongoing custody case. Their attorney filed several challenges to the subpoenas.

"Frederick Merril Jessop is not a party to this lawsuit and believes this subpoena is solely for harassment," Amy Hennington wrote.

In a court filing, Malonis argued that both men will be called by Teresa Jeffs' mother, Annette, at trial and she's entitled to know what they're going to say.

"Frederick Merril Jessop is also the father of Raymond Jessop, the adult male who was allegedly married to the child the subject of this suit," she responded.

On Wednesday, Texas 51st District Judge Barbara Walther refused to grant a legal motion to quash the subpoenas or reschedule the depositions.

The case has been a lightning rod of controversy. Teresa Jeffs is alleged to have been married to Raymond Merril Jessop when she was 15 and he was 34. Teresa Jeffs sought to have Malonis replaced, saying her attorney was not acting in her best interests. Malonis sought a restraining order against Willie Jessop, accusing him of intimidating her and pressuring the girl to be uncooperative. Walther refused to remove Malonis and signed a restraining order telling Jeffs' mother, Annette, to keep her daughter away from Jessop.

A custody trial for Teresa Jeffs is scheduled for March 17. Her alleged husband will go on trial later this year on a criminal charge of sexual assault of a child. Teresa Jeffs has insisted she is not a sex-abuse victim.

Her father, Warren Jeffs, 53, has been indicted on sexual assault and bigamy charges. Frederick Merril Jessop, 72, faces a charge of performing a marriage ceremony prohibited by law. Ten other men face charges ranging from sexual assault to bigamy to failure to report child abuse.

Hundreds of children were taken in the raid on the YFZ Ranch last year, but the 439 children were ultimately returned to their parents in June when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not at immediate risk for abuse. Only one child — a 14-year-old girl believed to have been married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs — has been returned to foster care. Only 13 children remain under court jurisdiction in what was once the nation's largest child custody case.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com