Torture, Child Abuse Cited in Polygyny Case

California Polygamist Gets Life Term For Family Crimes

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/13/ap/national/main4801203.shtml

Murrieta, CA (AP) A self-proclaimed polygamist has been sentenced in California to life in prison for torturing some of his 19 children and falsely imprisoning two of his three wives.

Mansa Musa Muhummed (MAN'-suh MOOS'-uh Moh-HAH'-med) was sentenced Friday in Riverside County Superior Court, nearly a decade after his arrest. A judge imposed seven consecutive life sentences and nearly 17 years of other prison time.

Muhummed went on trial last year after years of maneuvering. Several of his children testified that they were starved, beaten and strung up with electrical cord in the basement of their home.

The 55-year-old Muhummed was convicted of seven counts of torture, 12 counts of child endangerment, four counts of spousal abuse and two counts of false imprisonment.