(Court TV) — When Arizona investigators probing possible illegal activities by a polygamist sect pulled health records, one birth certificate showed that a baby boy was born to a 17-year-old girl. The father was listed as 44-year-old David Romaine Bateman, a member of the polygamist sect, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). 

As one of eight indicted in a sweep, Bateman was charged with committing sexual conduct with a minor, referred to as "Jane Doe."

He was also charged with one count of conspiracy because of the manner in which FLDS, headed by leader Warren Jeffs, allegedly assigns male members to "marry" underage for the purpose of having children. 

Bateman stood trial in October 2006 before a Mohave County jury and faced a maximum of four years in prison if convicted of both felony charges.

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Two States, One Case

Colorado City, which is located on the Utah-Arizona border, is home to the largest polygamist population in the United States. 

Typically, sect members who reside in Colorado City will go over the border to a birthing center in Hildale, Utah, which is where "Jane Doe" delivered her child on August 25, 2002.

Critics accuse FLDS members of manipulating the state line to their advantage.  If law enforcement can't pinpoint the state where an alleged crime, such as statutory rape, took place, it's difficult to prosecute because of the jurisdictional issue.

In July 2005, Mohave County authorities, the county where Colorado City lies, performed an unprecedented sweep focusing on FLDS' alleged encouragement of sexual contact with minors. Bateman was arrested in his home on July 8, 2005.

According to prosecutors, Bateman legally married his wife in 1978, when Lydia Bateman was just 15. Because he was already married, Bateman could not have a second wife under Arizona law.  But under a "sealing ceremony" performed by Jeffs, Bateman allegedly considered "Jane Doe" his second wife and lived with both women in the same home. 

The FLDS church mandates a man must have at least three wives in order to attain salvation. Similarly, women are required to be submissive and welcome this plurality of wives as a prerequisite to their salvation.

While prosecutors did not seek polygamy charges against Bateman, they focused on the impact of the FLDS doctrines on minors. 

Prosecutors believed the actual impregnation of the teen occurred in the Colorado City, Ariz., home Bateman shared with his legal wife, Lydia, and their children.