One of the two men accused of starting their own fundamentalist Mormon offshoot, and of marrying each other’s daughters, pleaded guilty to charges on Wednesday.
Samuel Shaffer, 34, pleaded guilty to rape of a child and child abuse according to tweets from reporters who were in the courtroom in 5th District Court in Cedar City.
A St. George Spectrum reporter tweeted that the rape charge is a first-degree felony that carries 25 years to life in prison. The child abuse count carries up to 15 years in prison.
Child kidnapping counts were apparently dismissed as part of a plea agreement.