B.C., Utah discuss polygamy
 
CBC News - British Columbia
 
Politicians from British Columbia and Utah met Thursday in an effort to develop a common strategy to deal with polygamy.

Both jurisdictions are concerned that women and young girls are being abused in the polygamous communities linked across the border by common history and beliefs.

But the RCMP have never been able to lay charges because they find it hard to convince witnesses from the closed society to come forward.

"We can't do anything with that unless we have a witness or witnesses or documentary evidence that would stand up in a court of law," B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said after meeting his Utah counterpart Mark Shurtleff in Vancouver.

"I think we can exchange ideas and look to see what the police and prosecutors in Utah have done with respect to obtaining evidence," he said.

"It may be that evidence could pertain to offences that happened here."

Utah has prosecuted five polygamists for a variety of crimes, including sexual misconduct and child abuse. It has also set aside money to help create a safety net for women who want to leave polygamous communes.

But Ruth Lane, a wife and mother of six from the polygamous community of Bountiful, about 480 kilometres from Vancouver, showed up at the meeting to deny there was abuse. "I wasn't abused and I don't know anyone that is."

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a U.S.-based group which believes men should have multiple wives as young as 13, set up Bountiful in 1947. About 1,000 people now live there.

The province announced that the RCMP would investigate allegations of child abuse, forcible marriage and sexual exploitation more than a year ago, but no victims have been found.
 
cbc.ca
Originally published December 8, 2005
 
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