I don’t really understand the polygamy laws. Living with two or more persons is not illegal. One can only be legally married to one person at a time. If you say you are married to two or more people, you are in fact only legally married to one of them. And yet making that legally impossible claim is illegal even though the second marriage is fictional.
You really haven’t a clue about what goes on in these polygamist “communities,” do you? These places are sick, sick, sick.
Called being a bigamist.....the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. However these people don’t look at it as that. They marry as many wives as they can & most are supported by welfare.
The government has no business interfering with polygamy or polyandry practiced by consenting adults. That’s a matter of basic freedom, and to some people, of religious belief. However, what goes on in these fundamentalist Mormon cults has nothing to do with adults freely choosing to live in polygamous or polyandrous relationships. It has everything to do with adult men using religion as an excuse for raping adolescent girls. Let’s not confuse the two issues just because the sicko rapist men of this “church” say we should.
They have already had several convictions of statutory rape in other states after coercing girls as young as 13 to marry and have sex with mostly older members of the church. Girls that ran away were caught and brought back. Those that said they didn’t want to marry were informed they would be kicked out, with nowhere to go, and that they, and their family, will all burn in hell.
I’d say that, given the proven history of systematic sexual abuse of the young girls, the authorities have to take the charge of the 16-year old very seriously.
That doesn’t condone another Waco outcome, but what happens in the FLDS is not going to support arguments opposing laws against polygamy and establishing ages of consent.