Utah man Samuel Shaffer dreamed of growing old with the 8-year-old he took as his child bride — but the leader of a doomsday cult will now be aging behind bars.
Shaffer, 34, was convicted Wednesday on one count of rape of a child and one count of child sodomy. According to multiple reports, he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison — and Utah State Courts spokesman Geoff Fattah tells PEOPLE he will spend a minimum of 26 years behind bars.
The sentence for the co-leader of the Knights of Crystal Blade, a fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon Church, comes after Shaffer told detectives that he was married to the 8-year-old daughter of John Coltharp, another cult member. Coltharp, who pleaded guilty on June 13 to charges of child sodomy and child bigamy, said he was married to Shaffer’s 7-year-old daughter, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Salt Lake Tribune.
article...