School once led by sect leader being demolished

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A school where polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs once served as principal is being demolished to make way for new luxury homes.

The former Alta Academy at the mouth of Utah's Little Cottonwood Canyon still contains a birthing room and baptismal font.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1tu5Daq) that the religious group owned the property for about 35 years.

Jeffs served as principal starting in 1976. A nephew of his as well as a niece have testified Jeffs raped them there.

The 59-year-old Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting underage girls that he considered wives.

A real estate company plans to build homes worth at least $600,000 on the 4 1/2 -acre property close to popular ski areas.