SALT LAKE CITY — A coalition of Utah and Arizona polygamous groups is denouncing the acts of sexual assault alleged during the Texas trial of Warren Jeffs.

The Principle Rights Coalition issued a statement last week saying its members are devastated that child sexual abuse may have been perpetrated under the cloak of their religion.

The coalition represents five polygamous groups — the Apostolic United Brethren, Centennial Park, the Davis County Cooperative Society, the Neilson-Naylor community — and a network of so-called “independents” who practice polygamy but do not affiliate with any specific church.

The statement was issued hours before a Texas jury convicted Jeffs on sexual assault charges stemming from allegations of wrongdoings with two underage girls from his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“This is not common practice, marrying underage girls of 12 and 15,” coalition co-founder Anne Wilde said. “This is about one person, not about our religious belief system. He does not represent us.”