Police find ritual bed in temple of polygamists

AGENTS searching a 1,700-acre polygamist compound in west Texas found a bed in the soaring limestone temple and prosecutors believe it was used for male members to have sex with their underage wives after sect-recognised unions.

The discovery was revealed as police officers completed their week-long search of the grounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — a breakaway church from Mormon — said spokeswoman Tela Mange.

The temple “contains an area where there is a bed where males over the age of 17 engage in sexual activity with female children under the age of 17”, according to an affidavit quoting a confidential informant who had been providing information to the Schleicher County sheriff for years.