Self-proclaimed cult leader in Utah gets additional 15-year prison term after pleading guilty to child sodomy
Samuel Shaffer had pleaded guilty to separate child rape and abuse charges and was sentenced last month to at least 26 years in prison; the new term will be served concurrently
A self-described “prophet” who led a doomsday cult has been given a 15-year prison term after another guilty plea.
Samuel Shaffer, 35, was sentenced Wednesday in Manti, Utah, after pleading guilty to one felony count of child sodomy, the Deseret News reported.
He had previously pleaded guilty to separate child rape and abuse charges in another Utah court, and was sentenced last month to at least 26 years in prison. The new sentence will be served concurrently and will not extend his prison term but will be reviewed when determining his parole, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Shaffer led a group called the Knights of the Crystal Blade that was based on arcane Mormon ideas long abandoned by the mainstream church.
He and his fellow “prophet”, John Coltharp, 34, believed they had wed each other's daughters.
At the hearing Wednesday, Shaffer told Judge Marvin Bagley that he had hoped to have a family and grow old with the 8-year-old girl he considered his bride.