Not enough resources to fight polygamy?
 
By Jennifer Toomer-Cook
Deseret Morning News
 
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff believes crimes are being committed in polygamous communities on the Utah-Arizona border, but he told a national TV audience Tuesday he hasn't the resources or enough evidence to prosecute.

With 30,000 to 40,000 polygamists in Utah, the state doesn't have the resources to jail so many parents and then take some 20,000 children into state custody, Shurtleff said on the "Dr. Phil" show. He also said prosecution for crimes, which he believes may range from domestic violence to child sexual abuse and forcing teenage girls to marry older men, would require someone to leave the Hildale-Colorado City community and testify against family.

"It's always been very difficult with the closed nature of these groups in order to get people to come forward," Shurtleff said in an interview after the show aired. "Even with people we feel are criminals, we're not going to arrest them . . . unless we have a case we can prove without a reasonable doubt."

Shurtleff appeared on Dr. Phil's "Inside the Cult" hourlong segment, a follow-up to the "Brainwashed Brides" show that aired early this month. That show featured Fawn Broadbent and Fawn Holm, teenage girls who fled their polygamous border-town home last year but since had second thoughts about leaving.

The Fawns' parents are members of the FLDS church, which teaches that plural marriage is central to one's eternal salvation and key to the highest degree of heaven. Faithful FLDS men typically have one legal wife and several "spiritual" wives.

Tuesday's show included footage of McGraw's son, Jay, who visited the border community with Shurtleff and found it difficult to talk to locals or get answers about polygamy or alleged abuses therein.

It also included footage of a summit and a live interview with polygamist women saying they are consenting adults and are among "many, many happy families" living a free-chosen lifestyle.

"Polygamy does not necessarily equal abuse . . . we don't deserve that stigma," said a woman identified as Ruth who grew up in Colorado City but now lives in Canada in a polygamous home.

"I chose the situation I'm in" and was married at age 20, she said. "I don't think it should be legalized . . . (but) polygamy should be decriminalized."

Meanwhile, the Fawns, as they've come to be called, and those caring for them, said they are coming along. The pair, who have received counseling from a specialist in helping people leave cults (courtesy of the show) say they are happier, feel like they're starting over and are working to complete high school but have some reservations about dating.

Both also gave an simultaneous "Yes" and a smile when host Phil McGraw asked whether they made the right decision to run away. He in turn urged them, and a boy who fled a polygamous community, to take it slow.

The Attorney General's Office meanwhile says it is working to reach out to polygamist communities throughout the state — statements that were not included in the show's airing.

The efforts come under a $700,000 federal grant and the "Safety Net" program, which includes a 24-hour domestic violence information line, additional law enforcement presence in Washington and Mohave counties, legal help for domestic violence victims, emergency shelter and housing, and an awareness campaign, Shurtleff's office reports. Monthly meetings also are being held in St. George, Colorado City and Salt Lake City, bringing social service agencies together to coordinate help for victims.

Shurtleff says the resources are being used little by little. "We think as time goes on and more and more people begin to trust state agencies . . . we will get more victims coming out," he said.

Meanwhile, the Utah Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether it is constitutional for prosecutors to use Utah's bigamy law against polygamists.

In the case of Hilldale police officer Rodney Holm, who was prosecuted for taking his 16-year-old sister-in-law as his third "spiritual wife", the court is dealing with whether the bigamy statute is being used selectively to go after polygamists, as opposed to others living in non-married arrangements.

To complicate matters, justices have questioned whether the passing of Amendment 3, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, essentially invalidates the prosecution of those polygamists who do not seek a legal marriage.

Contributing: Geoffrey Fattah

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published May 25, 2005
 
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