Samuel Shaffer, the former self-proclaimed prophet of Knights of the Crystal Blade, has been charged with two counts of first-degree felony sodomy of a child in Sanpete County.
The charges, filed Wednesday, come on the day Shaffer was supposed to be in court in Iron County for kidnapping charges, but his preliminary hearing was continued to Feb. 20.
Shaffer, 34, of Beryl, Iron County, was the original prophet of the religious group, which is a small fundamentalist Mormon offshoot. When interviewed by police in early December, Shaffer said he passed the prophecy on to his friend John Alvin Coltharp, who also has been charged with kidnapping and sodomy of a child.
The men were jailed after the alleged kidnapping of Coltharp’s two daughters, who are 4 and 8 years old. Coltharp was arrested in Sanpete County on Dec. 1, after he allegedly failed to turn his children over to his ex-wife after she was awarded custody during divorce proceedings.
He allegedly turned his children over to Shaffer instead. After police were unable to locate Shaffer, an Amber Alert was issued on Dec. 5. That night, police found Shaffer near a makeshift compound where the religious sect had settled in Iron County, about a mile west of Lund.
Shaffer eventually gave police the location of his two daughters and Coltharp’s two daughters. Two were found in a dirty single-wide trailer and two were found in an empty 55-gallon water drum, police have said.
On Jan. 8, Coltharp was charged in Sanpete County with sodomy of a child for a sexual assault that occurred on Aug. 1, according to charging documents.
FILE - This undated file photo provided by Sanpete County Jail shows John Coltharp. Prosecutors say Coltharp and Samuel Shaffer, two Utah men who believe in doomsday and polygamy, had sexually abused young girls after conducting secret marriages they said were ordained by God. (Sanpete County Jail via AP, File)
Coltharp, 33, of Spring City, Sanpete County, also was supposed to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but according to a spokesman for the Utah State Courts, it also was rescheduled to Feb. 20.
Iron County Sheriff’s Office Detective Nathan Houchen detailed an interview with Shaffer in which Shaffer told police that he married Coltharp’s 8-year-old daughter and that Coltharp married Shaffer’s 7-year-old daughter, according to a search warrant affidavit that was unsealed last week.
It is not legal to marry anyone under 15 in the state of Utah.
Shaffer’s new charges allege that he twice on Dec. 1 engaged in a sexual act with a child. Sanpete County Attorney Brody Keisel also charged Shaffer with second-degree felony obstruction of justice relating to a Dec. 1 incident, as well as class A misdemeanor lewdness involving a child.
Keisel also filed amended charges Wednesday, changing Coltharp’s misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge to a second-degree felony.
