Polygamist sect leader due back in Texas court

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is due in court for his final pretrial hearing with still no word on whether he has a Texas attorney.

A pretrial hearing in the aggravated sexual assault case against Jeffs is set for Wednesday morning.

The 55-year-old is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 24 but says he’s had trouble finding in-state representation.

The ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also is charged with felony bigamy and assault, with trials on those charges to come later.

The case stems from the 2008 raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, where authorities seized over 400 children. Most were eventually returned to their families, but seven men in the sect have been convicted of child sexual abuse charges.