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A Texas appeals court has upheld the sexual-assault conviction of a polygamous sect member who spiritually married a 15-year-old girl in 2004 at a ranch in Schleicher County.

Raymond Merril Jessop, 40, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for one count of sexual assault. His was one of several cases filed against members of the Warren Jeffs-led Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints following a raid at the sect's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

In Jessop's trial, prosecutors used the victim's photo album, documents seized from the ranch and DNA tests to prove he had taken the woman, then a 15-year-old, as a spiritual wife in August 2004. She conceived a child in November and gave birth to a daughter on Aug. 19, 2005.

Jessop appealed his conviction, claiming the evidence against him was circumstantial or unreliable. He also claimed that some of the witnesses — including two former FLDS members and a psychologist who works with members and former members of polygamous sects — gave prejudicial testimony that was not directly relevant to the case against him.

The Texas Third District Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the evidence was properly admitted and was sufficient to convict Jessop.