Colorado City man faces sex charges
 Complaint: Black had sex with underage 'spiritual wives'
 
By Jane Zhang
jzhang@thespectrum.com
 
ST. GEOERGE -- A Colorado City polygamist who has left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is facing five criminal counts for allegedly having sex with underage "spiritual wives."

According to a Feb. 27 complaint filed in Mohave County Superior Court, Orson William Black Jr. had unlawful sex with Beth M. Stubbs between 1998 and 2001 and Roberta LeAnn Stubbs between 1998 and 1999, when she was 15 to 17 years old. The complaint was released by the Office of Arizona Attorney General to the Arizona Republic, one of The Spectrum's sister newspapers in the Gannett chain.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said that Black's arrest is part of an ongoing investigation "into a wide variety of subjects" and child abuse is one of "the top concerns."

"I, along with previous administrations, want to make it clear that violations of child abuse will not be tolerated anywhere," Goddard said Wednesday. "When we can prove it in court, we will go after abusers aggressively."

Dan Barlow, unofficial FLDS spokesman and mayor of Colorado City, said it's unclear what Goddard intended with this release.

Bigamy charges are rare even though both Arizona and Utah prosecutors have said they are investigating criminal allegations in polygamist communities. The FLDS church, which teaches polygamy as a doctrine, is a central part of the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. But Barlow said he didn't know of any FLDS members marrying girls younger than 16.

Arizona state prosecutors haven't been able to arrest Black because they cannot find him, said Richard Travis, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

Black grew up in Colorado City but moved several miles away about 10 or 15 years ago, Barlow said. Since then, he said, Black has no long associated with the FLDS church.

"He's doing his own things," Barlow said. "The guy is indefensible as far as I can tell."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this story.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published Thursday, March 13, 2003
 
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