House arrest for polygamy pair after Canada's first convictions in a century

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian


Former bishops of breakaway Mormon sect avoid jail over offences spanning decades

Reuters

Tue 26 Jun 2018 20.53 EDT

Two British Columbia men were sentenced to house arrest for having multiple wives, marking Canada’s first convictions for polygamy in more than a century.

Winston Blackmore and James Oler were sentenced to six and three months of house arrest, respectively, on Tuesday, according to a report by CBC News. They were convicted on one count of polygamy each in July 2017.

Both men are former bishops of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect within Bountiful, a religious community in south-eastern British Columbia.

. . .

Blackmore married 24 women between 1990 and 2014, according to court documents. Canadian media reported that he has fathered at least 146 children.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/27/house-arrest-for-polygamy-pair-after-canadas-first-convictions-in-a-century

[VMA131Marine]

1. Let me guess...

Most, if not all, of the 146 children are receiving some sort of public support. And I don't fundamentally have a problem with that, because it's not the kids' fault they were born into that situation. At the same time, I'm pretty sure the instruction to go forth and multiply came with an admonition to not have more children Han you can take care of.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. You are heading in the right direction.

And this Blackmoore family moves Females as far south as Southern Utah for Spiritual Wives of other members of that Cult.

[OnlinePoker]

3. His family owns a timber business.

He is also a member of the same sect as Warren Jeffs.

[Hekate]

4. They are part of the cult that passes young girls across state and national borders to be "wives"...

...to their patriarchs. They really belong behind bars, but house arrest is a good start.

[TomVilmer]

5. Hopefully, this is the wrong law

I see no problem in having multiple "wives". And also no problem in making multiple children with them. And who has the right to make official limits for just this man, and not for others. But there might be a lot of problems in how these girls were "married" to him, if they knew and were willing to do this.

[metalbot]

6. I'm actually surprised that this could be prosecuted

I know that in the US, you generally have to fill out a marriage license with multiple women in order to be prosecuted, so polygamists in the US usually just have a "church" wedding. Also, it's to their advantage to not "legally" get married from a state benefit perspective.

The article doesn't explain whether he actually attempted to register legal marriages with the government, or if Canadian law allows you to prosecute people who marry in non-government registering ways.

And I agree with you that in principle polygamy should be legal. There's no reason that we shouldn't allow more than two people to enter into lifetime contracts. That being said, in practice polygamy manifests itself very badly. When you say "there might be a lot of problems in how these girls were married...", that's likely an understatement.

[TomVilmer]

7. He was not married to them, but used "celestial marriages"

And yes, I do not believe his often very young wifes enjoys the memories. Still seems to be a stupid law - rape seems to fit better. There are only two other convictions for polygamy in Canadian history at 1899 and 1906. But he was not "married" to all those partners, so this must be some Victorian BS.

"This sentencing, and the conviction on which it was based, sent a message to communities that practice polygamy that the law prohibiting polygamy is constitutionally valid."

BTW - I lived happily "polygamistic" but unmarried in Denmark for some years, with partners around my own age and with no religious background. The Government registered our unit as one family under my name!