Minister, Wife Tried on Sex Charges

Posted on June 24, 2009 by lmharnisch
June 24, 1939, Joseph Jeffers
Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

June 24, 1939: The Rev. Joseph Jeffers and his wife, Zella, sit at the defense table during their sensational morals trial, in which prosecutors showed a film of them taken during a raid on their apartment. The Times said that if the film were shown anywhere except a courtroom, the exhibitors would be arrested.

June 24, 1939, Jeffers Case

June 24, 1939: The morals trial of the Rev. Joseph Jeffers and his wife, Zella, gets underway after they were arrested in April 1939.  Their immoral act was so horrifying that prosecutors said they were looking for
a "shock-proof" jury consisting exclusively of married people. During
the trial, The Times reported that spectators fled the courtroom in
horror at what was described.

Criminal Complaint, Joseph and Zella Jeffers

And this is their crime, which was considered so obscene that The Times couldn't describe it.

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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3 Responses to Minister, Wife Tried on Sex Charges

  1. peachy's avatar peachy says:
    June 24, 2009 at 8:51 am

    seems like evangelicals always get themselves into pickles like this.

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  2. Diane Warren's avatar Diane Warren says:
    June 24, 2009 at 8:59 am

    This would be hilarious if real people hadn’t had to endure a public trial for such a ridiculous charge. Thank the gods that times change.

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  3. Larry Howard's avatar Larry Howard says:
    June 24, 2009 at 9:23 am

    Were they not in the privacy of their own home?What were the cops doing there?

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