Pictures show polygamist leader kissing apparent minors

(CNN) - Pictures showing the leader of a polygamist sect kissing a girl who appears to be a minor have been introduced into evidence in the ongoing legal battle involving the seizure of more than 400 children from the sect's Texas ranch.

The pictures show Warren Jeffs, leader and so-called "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with two females who appear to be under 18. In both sets of pictures, Jeffs and the females are kissing. One set of pictures is labeled "first anniversary - January 26, 2005."

The photos have been entered into evidence in Tom Green County District Court as part of a custody case involving a family whose children were among the hundreds removed from the FLDS' Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch in an April raid. State officials have maintained that they found a "pervasive pattern" on the ranch of girls being forced into underage marriage to older men.

Jeffs, 52, is in a Utah prison, serving two consecutive terms of five years to life after a conviction on two charges of being an accomplice to rape
in connection with a marriage he performed in 2001. Rod Parker, a lawyer for the church, said the photos "have no ties to this particular family in a way that's relevant to these proceedings."