Canada wraps up its polygamy probe
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
Prosecutors in Canada are screening criminal charges against members of the polygamous enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The Crown Counsel's Criminal Justice branch released a brief statement Thursday confirming it has received a report from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police into alleged criminal activities in Bountiful.

"The report ... resulted from a lengthy and complex police investigation into alleged misconduct on the part of some residents of Bountiful," Crown Counsel spokesman Stan Lowe said in a statement. "A comprehensive charge assessment review of the police report will be conducted by senior Crown Counsel to determine what if any offence under the Criminal Code of Canada has been committed."

The report includes a "significant amount of investigative materials" and will take some time to complete, Lowe said. The Crown Counsel declined further comment.

The RCMP has been conducting investigations into allegations of child abuse and human trafficking, involving teenage girls reportedly escorted across the U.S.-Canada border so they can be married to older men.

Ex-FLDS leader Winston Blackmore has also been the subject of a police inquiry. In an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News last May, he acknowledged the investigation.

"Since we are not hiding we are not hard to find," he wrote. "It is hard to think that Canada, the home of free lovers and legalized same sex marriages, not to mention legal wife swapping clubs, could waste their time on people who live like we do."

Blackmore was the No. 3 man in the FLDS Church until he was ousted by polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs. Hundreds of followers in Bountiful remained loyal to Blackmore, splitting from the FLDS Church. Sources have told the Deseret Morning News that Blackmore has been cooperating with law enforcement in Utah in its investigations into Jeffs.

Jeffs, 50, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until his capture in August. He is currently facing charges in St. George's 5th District Court of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony, accusing him of forcing a teenage girl into a marriage with an older man. He is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on Nov. 21.

Jeffs is facing similar charges across the border in Mohave County, Ariz., accusing him of forcing an underage girl into a polygamous marriage with an older man.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Friday, October 20, 2006
 
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