Jailed polygamist sect leader hospitalized for dehydration
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was in critical condition on Monday after he was hospitalized for dehydration, Texas prison officials told Reuters.
The 55-year-old Jeffs, serving a 130-year sentence for sexually assaulting two underage girls, had been refusing to eat properly and is being treated for weakness and related conditions, said Jason Clark, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman.
Jeffs was reportedly fasting, but not on a hunger strike, Clark said.
“Warren Jeffs was transported last night to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler,” Clark said Monday. “He is listed in critical but stable condition. Jeffs had not been eating and drinking as much as we would like.
… .Jeffs’ prison unit is not air conditioned, but officials didn’t know if that had anything to do with his condition.
Temperatures across Texas have been in the triple digits for several days.
(Edited by Karen Brooks and Jerry Norton)