Utah, Arizona reject polygamy prosecutions
States pursue charges of child abuse, domestic violence against church members
ROBERT MATAS
May 10, 2008
Both Utah and Arizona have rejected British Columbia's approach to responding to evidence of lawlessness in the polygamous communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The U.S. states pursue charges of child abuse and domestic violence against church members, but do not prosecute members simply because they are polygamous.
And Utah Attorney-General Mark Shurtleff and Arizona Attorney-General Terry Goddard have both ruled out a Texas-like raid of polygamous communities in their states.
Utah tries to use its resources to go after serious crimes, Paul Murphy, a spokesman for Mr. Shurtleff, said in an interview. "We're more concerned about what is happening to the children."
Mr. Goddard said in an interview that Arizona authorities will go after lawbreakers "not because they are members of [a polygamous religious] community, but because they break the law." The FLDS members are charged "only for bad actions," he said.
Utah outlaws polygamy. Arizona's Constitution prohibits legal marriage to more than one person, but the state has never adopted a statute making more than one marriage illegal. Polygamy is against the law in Canada.
B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal is considering whether to press criminal charges against polygamist FLDS members or refer the issue of polygamy directly to the courts for a clarification on whether Charter protections for freedom of religion trump the law on polygamy. The options reflect the advice of two Vancouver lawyers, Richard Peck and Len Doust, who concluded that polygamy is the root of the problem that leads to all other harms.
About 1,000 FLDS members live in the Creston area in southeast B.C. Meanwhile, the neighbouring cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, have about 10,000 FLDS members. Mr. Shurtleff and Mr. Goddard set out their approach to the FLDS communities in recent correspondence with Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who is the Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate.
Law enforcement agencies, state and local service agencies, advocacy groups and members of the community came together to figure out better ways to offer services and ensure that victims of domestic violence and child abuse could access the services, they stated.
A training curriculum was developed for child-protection workers dealing with victims from polygamous communities. New 24-hour, toll-free help lines answered by professional counsellors were opened, and promoted with billboards and bumper stickers. Both Arizona and Utah also passed new child bigamy statutes to facilitate the prosecution of crimes involving plural marriages of underage girls to much older men.
Several civil and criminal investigations were launched, leading to the following changes:
A Utah police officer was convicted of having unlawful sexual relations with his 16-year-old sister-in-law and bigamy for making her his third wife.
Six Hildale and Colorado City police officers lost their jobs for failing to report numerous cases of abuse.
A justice of the peace was removed for not enforcing the law.
Eight members of the FLDS were charged with sexual abuse of a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual abuse. So far, six of the men have been convicted.
The Colorado City school district was placed in receivership, the superintendent and board were removed and an independent receiver was appointed.
The Utah courts took control of the United Effort Plan Trust, which owned the FLDS properties and FLDS-run businesses with assets worth nearly $200-million. Utah probate court replaced those controlling the trust who the court found were using the trust assets for their own benefit.
Mr. Murphy said the government agencies have helped hundreds of victims of domestic violence and child abuse who have left polygamous communities in the state, including those who left the FLDS community.
"If a child is being abused, we need to know about it," he said.
Seumas Gordon, a spokesman for the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development, said the government provides a range of services in Creston that include child protection, sexual abuse intervention counselling and parenting support.
Liberal MLA Bill Bennett (East Kootenay) said in an interview that the government has placed a social worker in Creston specifically to support women and children in the FLDS community. "The real issue is the fact that governments have not found a way to prosecute on the federal polygamy law," Mr. Bennett said.
Source: Globe and Mail.