Arizona charges against polygamist dropped

KINGMAN, Ariz., June 5 (UPI) -- Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has had four of eight charges against him dropped by an Arizona judge.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn found that state's incest law didn't apply to the arranged marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives. He ruled the law does not apply to half cousins and only applies if both participants in the sexual activity are older than 18, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

Jeffs had been charged with incest as an accomplice. He still faces charges as an accomplice in four counts of sexual conduct with a minor stemming from the marriages of the two girls, the report said.

Meanwhile, a more children returned to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Yearning for Zion Ranch in West Texas after a judge ordered more than 400 children released from foster care while an investigation of alleged child abuse by the polygamist sect continued.

"There are a few returned, and we'll be grateful when more come," said Edson Jessop, who is among sect members under investigation. Documents introduced in a San Angelo, Texas court, show him having five spiritual wives and more than 40 children.