ST. GEORGE, Utah — A jury began deliberations Friday in the case of Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader accused of using his religious influence to coerce a 14-year-old girl to marry and have sex with her 19-year-old cousin.

The panel of five men and three women deliberated for about two hours before going home for the weekend. They will resume their deliberations Monday morning.

In his closing argument earlier Friday, a Utah prosecutor told jurors the only reason the teenager had sex with her cousin was because her "prophet," Jeffs, commanded her to do so.

"The evidence has shown that the only reason [the alleged victim] went into that bedroom and had sexual intercourse with Allen Steed is because that man there told her she was supposed to," Washington County prosecutor Brock Belnap said as he pointed a finger at Jeffs.

But a lawyer for Jeffs insisted that the accuser was far from the "shrinking lily" painted by prosecutors and accused her of fabricating her claims, hoping for a big payout in an eventual civil suit.

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The two conflicting portraits of the woman at the heart of the case emerged during closing arguments in Jeffs' trial on charges stemming from his role in the couple's arranged marriage in 2001.

Jeffs faces five years to life in prison on two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly "enticing" the woman, now 21, to marry her cousin and have sex with him against her wishes.

The jury can convict Jeffs if it finds he "intentionally, knowingly or willingly" encouraged the teen to submit to an act she would not have normally participated in.

Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) believe that God speaks through the prophet, who decides who should get married and when.

Once a couple is married, the husband is the "priesthood head" of his household and receives the spirit of God, which he passes on to his wife and children, according to FLDS followers.

In emotional testimony last week, the woman testified that Jeffs refused to "release" her from the arranged union, despite her claims that she felt she was too young for marriage.

Less than three weeks after Jeffs married them in a private ceremony in a Nevada hotel, the woman testified, her husband raped her while she sobbed in protest.

The first count refers to a time frame between the wedding on April 23, 2001, and the subsequent three weeks, when prosecutors believe the first sexual encounter occurred.

According to prosecutors, the ceremony, including Jeffs' directive that the couple "go forth and multiply and replenish the earth," was a psychological trigger that compelled the young woman to submit to the marriage and nonconsensual sex.

"If Warren Jeffs had not performed that wedding ceremony, would Allen Steed ever have had sexual intercourse with [the alleged victim]?" Belnap asked the jury as the victim listened in the audience with her current husband and the attorneys representing her in a civil suit.

"If Warren Jeffs had never arranged the marriage or declared her his wife, would she have had sexual intercourse with him?" he continued. "He placed her in a position where she had no choice."

The second count refers to a period of time after the woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe IV, allegedly told Jeffs that her husband was "touching" her in ways that made her uncomfortable and that she did not "understand."

Jeffs response, according to the accuser, was that she should "repent" and "be a good wife" to her husband.

The couple stayed together until 2004, when Steed discovered she was having an affair with the man who is now her husband.

But a lawyer for Jeffs insisted he was not guilty because there is no evidence to support the rape claims.

The woman's ex-husband, Allen Steed, testified for the defense Wednesday that his religion did not condone the use of force, and said his wife had in fact initiated their first sexual encounter.

Steed meekly testified that, despite his ordained role as priesthood head, his wife was the "boss" of the relationship and frequently defied him.

Defense lawyer Walter Bugden urged the jury Friday to ask themselves why the accuser did not report the rape to relatives or authorities until after she hired a "high-priced" lawyer in 2004.

Earlier in the week-long trial, jurors heard that a settlement offer was pending between the alleged victim and the United Effort Plan, the trust which controls the funds for the FLDS.

Among the terms sought are seven lots of land owned by the UEP, in Hildale, Utah, four acres of property in Maxwell Canyon, Utah, and a $1 million trust fund to assist women who have been "displaced from their FLDS communities."

Bugden also accused prosecutors of making him a scapegoat for the beliefs of his controversial religion, which broke from mainstream Mormonism in the 1890s over the issue of polygamy.

Jeffs, who is believed to have as many as 70 "spiritual" wives, listened as his lawyer accused prosecutors of not having the courage to charge him with more obvious crimes, such as polygamy or solemnizing an illegal marriage.

"They prosecuted Warren Jeffs with rape because he is the leader of a religious group that the state does not approve of," Bugden told jurors in his closing argument.

The jury will resume deliberations Monday morning.