Matt Smith has made great strides
 
By Barbara Gruhl
Kingman Daily Miner
 
Congratulations to Matt Smith, Mohave County Attorney. Thanks to his dedication and drive, Mohave County has its first conviction of child-bigamy, and Warren Jeffs, Colorado City polygamist leader, is in jail.

In June, 2004, I sat down with Matt Smith in his office; it was his first full year as Mohave County Attorney. Things were heating up again in Colorado City, and I wanted to talk to him about his plans for that closed FLDS polygamous community. Would he take them on when his predecessors would not?

Over a cup of coffee, I questioned and listened as he patiently explained the Colorado City situation. My questions were mainly about child abuse and welfare fraud, and how can we open up this closed society? We also talked about our own daughters, and that we cannot allow anyone's daughter to be abused by unlawful patriarchal religious practices. We just can't!

I asked about the alleged welfare fraud by the FLDS society and learned that it is under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General. I've been given an estimate by others that welfare fraud likely costs Mohave County six or eight million dollars worth of food stamps and health services each year. For those who say, "leave the poor people alone," share that bit of information.

This polygamist culture of the FLDS church in Colorado City is a step back in time. Females have no voice and are taught at an early age to do as they are told. They do not talk to people outside of the group, which is the reason the group continues to exist. How can you know that you are a victim when you know no other way of life? Matt Smith knew then as he knows now that it will be a long, slow slog to change this 200-year-old culture.

I asked, "How do we begin?" Matt Smith told me that we begin by enforcing the law.

That year, 2004, the Arizona Legislature gave us a law, the child-bigamy law. This law makes religious marriages or cohabitation between a married adult and a minor a felony. It also makes it a felony crime for church pastors to perform such a ceremony and for parents of the minor to condone it. FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs ordered and performed many such ceremonies.

With the child-bigamy law, Matt Smith had what he needed to get started.

In these two years, under the leadership of Matt Smith and with the support of the Mohave County Supervisors, positive changes have happened in secluded and remote Colorado City. It began with representatives from the Sheriff's Ofice, Child Protective Services, School Superintendent Mike File, the attorney general's office, a full time victims' advocate and an outstanding special investigator, Gary Engels. We opened this closed community by the presence of law-abiding outsiders. Just the tiniest crack, but an opening nonetheless.

Matt Smith and his department have eight FLDS cases on their agenda, and the first conviction came down July 2. Kelly Fischer: Count 1 - Sexual Conduct with a Minor - GUILTY. Count 2: Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor - GUILTY. Fantastic!

That day two years ago, Matt Smith told me that if it were up to him, he would pass two new laws. He would: 1. Raise the marriage age in Arizona to 18 under all circumstances, and 2. Change the statutory rape law so that as the difference in ages between the adult and the minor increases so does the penalty. Ages 18 and 16 are one thing. Ages 45 and 12. No way! Go to jail for the rest of your days.

According to the Kingman Daily Miner, both charges for which Fischer was convicted are "punishable by four months to two years in prison with the possibility of probation." Judge Steven Conn sentenced 39-year-old Kelly Fischer to 45 days in jail. I wonder how the judge justifies his leniency. I wonder if he has a daughter.

It takes courage for Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith and the other state and county officials to tread where others feared, to crack open the doors and windows and bring light to darkness.
 
KingmanDailyMiner.com
Originally published September 5, 2006
 
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