| Before "Sister Wives," there was Tom Green | |
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Reported by: Chris Vanocur ABC 4 News | |
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Before there were the Browns, there was Tom Green. Kody Brown and his four wives are the stars of the new cable TV show, "Sister Wives." They are also now the targets of a bigamy investigation by the Lehi police. But in 2001, Tom Green was actually convicted on several counts of bigamy. This after he and his wives appeared on national TV. In fact, the Juab County prosecutor decided to file charges after seeing Green on TV. Green had five sister-wives and more than 30 children. Many lived in a collection of mobile homes in remote Juab County. They might still be there if they hadn't gone on TV. Tom Green, at the time said, "Well, what the hell is wrong with going on television? Don't we have the right of free speech in this country?" Green was convicted of four counts of bigamy. The first bigamy case to be tried in Utah in a half century. After the verdict one of his wives, sobbing, told reporters, "This man spent his entire life living up for his family and everything he could do." The prosecution made little secret of the fact that they were monitoring Green's TV appearances or recording his news conferences. But even though the state eventually locked him up, his wives stood by their man. After he was sentenced to prison, another of his wives said, "I think the judge is wrong. I don't see any reason how this religion and lifestyle is harmful to society." Years later, there is a sense that Tom Green didn't get sent to prison because he was a polygamist but because he was a loud one. | |
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ABC4.com Originally broadcast September 29, 2010 | |
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