| The price of polygamy | |||
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By Andrea Dearden KTVB Channel 7 Boise, Idaho | |||
Families openly practicing polygamy in Canada appear to be moving into north Idaho. Those who oppose the lifestyle are warning officials about its dangers. This is part two of a NewsChannel 7 investigation into the price of polygamy. The polygamous community of Bountiful, British Columbia sits just a few feet north of the Idaho-Canada border. The controversial and illegal way of life has been practiced there for more than 60 years. Now, the polygamists presence is growing in Idaho and officials are vowing to be vigilant. No gates block the road that leads to Bountiful. No high fences hide its homes, but this is a closed community. "We are sisters and sister-wives," said Leah Barlow. They call themselves fundamentalist Mormons and believe plural marriage, or polygamy, is the only way to achieve salvation and earn a place in the celestial kingdom. "Our mothers were sisters and sister-wives. We have the same father, different mothers, and we married the same man," said Barlow. Fearing persecution and ridicule, the women of Bountiful say they rarely speak about their lifestyle. But allegations of abuse, brainwashing and forced marriage have prompted them to publicly defend "the principle." "I am not ashamed to acknowledge my sister-wives in public. I’m not embarrassed by all of the children who call me mother," said Barlow. Sisterhood was the focus of a summit hosted by the Bountiful women. More than a dozen detailed the benefits they find in plural marriage. People from the neighboring town of Creston were enraged by the message and demanded authorities take action. "I don’t care if the men want to have all those wives. I object to them drawing young girls into this," said protestor Kay Merritt. Long known as the "Bishop of Bountiful," Winston Blackmore is said to have taken 27 wives, some of them adolescents. "There was one, one day shy of 15," said Blackmore. The most-influential man in Bountiful, Blackmore controls the community's land and homes. He dictates who lives where. He is also the spiritual leader, spreading the polygamist doctrine through his sermons and his writings. In Blakemore’s "North Star" publication NewsChannel 7 found several places where he refers to his following "south of the 49th" – the 49th parallel, the boundary that separates Canada and Idaho. It is the same imaginary line that divides Bountiful and Blakemore’s newest settlement. "It's new to me even though I’ve lived here all my life," said Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby. Kerby is proud of the area's religious diversity, but says polygamy is not part of it. "Polygamy is not protected under religious freedom in Idaho," he said. Just last month, the mayor learned fundamentalists may be moving into his county, driven north from their stronghold in Utah. A group opposed to the lifestyle came down from Creston to warn Kerby of the polygamous presence. "If you have the laws in place, enforce them. We have the laws in place in Canada, but no one enforces them," said Audrey Vance. An outspoken advocate of education, Audrey Vance worries those grow up in polygamous families have few choices about their future. "Since they were young children they were taught that's all there is. The prophet says this is what you do, and you do it. The only way the cycle will be broken is if those children have exposure to the outside world," she said. Vance says polygamists have become a part of Creston’s culture. She is warning folks in Boundary County that the same could happen here. "In this case, I think Idaho is a little ahead of us because they've been forewarned,” said Vance. "This is a new problem here that we'll be able to deal with on the front end, so that they understand they're not welcomed here; that it's illegal here; that this isn't something they'll be able to establish unfettered, like they did across the border in Canada," said Kerby. Law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border insist they are looking into reports of child brides and the trafficking of young girls between countries. "It’s possible and conceivable and, yeah, we are watching. That's part of our job," said Border Patrol agent Glen Aubuchon. "It's almost a cult-like activity, so it's really difficult to track," said Kerby. A search through Boundary County records prove polygamists have been here for nearly a decade. Land deeds bearing Winston Blakemore’s name date back to 1997. In one edition of "The North Star" he directs followers to pay their tithing to the bishop south of the 49th parallel -- Shem Johnson. Johnson's name appears on more than a dozen Boundary County building permits and land purchase agreements. There is also evidence the group is expanding in Boundary County. Blackmore talks about the "souls south of the border, 100 and growing". "We’re in your movie theatres. We are in your stores. We are everywhere you don't know who we are," said fundamentalist Mary Batchelor. In the last five years, Winston Blackmore and fellow fundamentalist have been buying acreage in north Idaho. The property they own sits just yards away from the U.S.-Canadian border. County property records show there are homes and a school there. Opponents of the group worry fundamentalists are setting up a border community that will one day mirror the one they established decades ago at the Utah-Arizona line. The twin cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona were established at the turn of the century. Today, they are the focus of federal investigations that center on claims of child abuse, exploitation and welfare fraud. Fundamentalist men take one legal wife and the rest are joined to him spiritually, and they are encouraged by the church to have as many children as possible. Because they aren't legally married, most mothers qualify for public assistance. "That's evidently part of what their dogma is, to sign up for welfare," said Kerby. According to the Arizona attorney general's office, the polygamist sect in Colorado City gets millions. In 2003, 80 percent of the town's families received food stamps, costing taxpayers $2.3 million. Five-million-dollars went to free healthcare and another $600,000 for other social services. That's $8 million of taxpayer money going to support a community openly practicing polygamy, a crime in all 50 states. "When you're taking on the benefits of a system, you should also obey the laws, and they're not," said Vance. The State of Idaho is investigating but has, so far, no evidence of fraud. The Boundary County Sheriff's office is also looking at the lifestyle to determine if there are abuses being covered up by the community. If it can be proven they are practicing the principle, Kerby says polygamists will be prosecuted. "Any person that is committing that crime needs to be held accountable," he said. In the last three months, both the Idaho Attorney General and a special legislative committee have launched investigations into the polygamists and their movement in Idaho. They've heard the allegations and believe many of them to be true, but the challenge is finding proof. The girls and young women in these settlements fiercely defend their religion and say they are living the life they have chosen. | |||
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ktvb.com Originally broadcast May 11, 2005 | |||
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