The trial of Warren Jeffs, self-styled "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the first concerted effort by officials in Utah and Arizona to crack down on the culture of polygamy and antimodernist teachings which thrive in a bizarre community on the border between the two states.

Jeffs succeeded his father as leader of the sect in the towns of Hilldale and Colorado City in 2002. He soon fell foul of the law because of his strict authoritarian rule and his extreme version of the old Mormon belief in polygamy, a policy abandoned by the mainstream church years ago.

He is on trial in St George, Utah, accused of being an accessory to rape. He has also been indicted in Arizona on eight charges including incest and sexual involvement with a minor. He faces five years to life in prison.

As the trial began on Friday, his alleged victim, identified only as Jane Doe, said she had no option but to obey the will of her husband and Jeffs.

"The prophet was God to us, " she said. "He was God on earth."

In his opening statement to the jury, prosecution lawyer Brock Belnap said Jane Doe, now 21, would testify that she begged Jeffs not to make her go through with the marriage.

"She will testify that he told her to repent and go back and give herself in mind, body and soul . . . and she did, " Belnap added.

Jeffs' defence lawyer, Tara Isaacson, said there was no evidence that Jeffs coerced the girl into doing something she did not want. She said Jeffs had taught women they were under no obligation to obey an "unrighteous" spouse. Jeffs, a gaunt 51-year-old, sat stonyfaced throughout the hearing and is unlikely to testify in his own defence.