Polygamists: Authorities Prepare For the Worst in Texas

Investigation launched into polygamous sect dubbed 'Canada's dirty little secret'
The Telegraph/August 5, 2004
By Catherine Elsworth
The peace of a secretive polygamous sect that has quietly practised its controversial - and illegal - way of life in a remote part of Canada for more than 60 years is about to be shattered.

Murmurings about alleged sexual abuse and forced marriage within the 1,000-strong community of Bountiful have reached fever pitch as women have fled the group with tales of exploitation.

The "escaped wives" claim that girls in their early teens have been compelled to wed middle-aged men and have been routinely trafficked between Canada and the group's fellow Mormon communities in Utah and Arizona.

They also complain of biased and truncated schooling that brainwashes children into following the sect's way of life and leaves them ill-equipped to live outside its confines.

Geoff Plant, the attorney general of the western Canadian province of British Columbia, has now launched an extensive investigation into the allegations.

"It's child abuse of the worst kind, within a religious context," said Audrey Vance, co-founder of a support group for former Bountiful wives in the nearby town of Creston. "One woman who left said what goes on out there is evil.

"This is Canada's dirty little secret, but no one round here wants to believe what's going on."

The community was founded in 1947 by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a group that split from the Mormon Church. Lying about 320 miles south-west of Calgary, near the US border, it occupies a sublimely bucolic spot at the foot of the Kootenay mountains.

Bountiful does not appear on any map. There is no sign indicating its cluster of homes, some makeshift, others extensive with well-tended gardens littered with children's toys. But there are "no trespassing" notices at its edge. Few residents of Creston venture in. They lower their voices when asked about Bountiful, and explain that while they disapprove of their neighbours' lifestyle, they do not wish them ill.

Outsiders are not so sure. "Careful," a holidaying father told his teenage children heading off to buy ice cream. "This is the teenage pregnancy capital of the world."

Although polygamy is illegal under Canada's criminal code, authorities have long turned a blind eye to Bountiful because the country's Charter of Rights guarantees religious freedom.

However, demands for an official inquiry have grown louder. One of those calling for action is Debbie Palmer, 49, who fled Bountiful in 1988, taking her six children. When she was 15, she claims, she was forced to marry a 54-year-old man, becoming his sixth wife, and was later "re-assigned" to two other husbands before escaping.

Her sister, Jane Blackmore, a midwife, left Bountiful in 2002 with one of her seven children and is fighting a custody battle with the husband she is divorcing. He is Winston Blackmore, 47, who calls himself the Bishop of Bountiful, and is said to have at least 25 other "celestial" wives and more than 80 children.

"We know of girls as young as 13 involved in trafficking across the border," claimed Mrs Palmer, who now lives in Saskatchewan. "And some have been exposed to horrifically abusive situations.

"What's happening in Bountiful is very worrying. There is a lack of information and education that means young people don't have choices.

"We have really terrible concerns about what is going to happen there."

The campaigners hope the inquiry will lead to prosecutions under the province's sexual exploitation laws that seek to protect younger teenagers.

The Bountiful community was split by an internal dispute two years ago. Mr Blackmore, the leader of one group, appears confident, despite the investigation. "I have nothing to hide," he said.

His sister, Marlene Palmer, 45, a mother of six who was born in Bountiful, said: "So many lies have been told about us that we welcome this investigation.

"We hope they leave no rock unturned so everyone can see we are not hiding anything. Then maybe we can be left alone.

"No one is forced to be here. They can do whatever they want. Some of my children have chosen different lifestyles, but I still love them. They chose to leave. They did not leave because they were abused."

She defended polygamy. "Legally, the men are only married to one woman. [The other wives] feel like we are friends."

Marsha Chatwin, 27, and her sister, Zelpha, 30, who are both married to Mr Blackmore, agreed.

"I love living the way I live," said Ms Chatwin, a mother of four. "I would never change it. It was our own free will and choice and I want everybody to know that.

"We're real close. We're all family. There's always someone around and you're never alone."

Meanwhile, Mr Blackmore's Share the Light website warns Bountiful residents to brace themselves for the investigation.

"Discrimination. This is about discrimination," he writes, but adds: "Like all persecutions, I am sure we will get through it."

Even if you believe that this religious community has no right to exist (or has no right to raise children)... you must agree that there is a better way for the state to handle this.

i don't care how many grown men and women want to live together in whatever way they like , but when they involve underaged kids my sympathy stops !

i have no objection if they want to have children and are willing to let these children to be kids - however : NO underage marriage or sex with "old" men should be tolerated

Only two girls younger than 16 have ever entered into what the Women called "plural marriages."

Blackmore said it is the wife's choice, never the husband's, about whether they will participate in plural marriages.

fishin wrote:

One of the things that the state is investigating is that out of the ~200 minors of the female variety they have collected from the coumpound, 5 are pregnant.

Overall, Texas has the 5th highest pregnancy rate for minors in the country at 62 per 1000.

Extrapolating that out, the compound is running at a rate of 25 per 1000 - less than half of the state rate.

Now, I'm not saying that someone shouldn't be asking if these girls are being abused but if this is the sort of evidence the state is using to justify everything going on then there are going to be some huge issues very quickly here.

The issue for the compound is minor girls impregnated by ADULT males. Doesn't the pregnancy rate for minors in Texas overall involve UNDERAGE males?

wandeljw wrote:

fishin wrote:

One of the things that the state is investigating is that out of the ~200 minors of the female variety they have collected from the coumpound, 5 are pregnant.

Overall, Texas has the 5th highest pregnancy rate for minors in the country at 62 per 1000.

Extrapolating that out, the compound is running at a rate of 25 per 1000 - less than half of the state rate.

Now, I'm not saying that someone shouldn't be asking if these girls are being abused but if this is the sort of evidence the state is using to justify everything going on then there are going to be some huge issues very quickly here.

The issue for the compound is minor girls impregnated by ADULT males. Doesn't the pregnancy rate for minors in Texas overall involve UNDERAGE males?

From what I've been reading the State of Texas has NO IDEA who impregnated them and they had no idea how many were pregnant when they began the raid. (There has been discussion about running DNA tests on every member from the compound to try to sort out some of that.)

They are justifiying their "suspicion" on the fact that 5 of the 200 girls were pregnant. If that (in itself) is adequate cause for suspicion that the girls were impregnated by adults then they'd better lock down the rest of the state and get busy testing.

The question I am raising is "Did they have justification for the raid when they went in or did they conduct the raid to find evidence to create "after the fact" justifation?".

The longer this is going on, the longer it is looking like the latter is true.

fishin wrote:

wandeljw wrote:

fishin wrote:

One of the things that the state is investigating is that out of the ~200 minors of the female variety they have collected from the coumpound, 5 are pregnant.

Overall, Texas has the 5th highest pregnancy rate for minors in the country at 62 per 1000.

Extrapolating that out, the compound is running at a rate of 25 per 1000 - less than half of the state rate.

Now, I'm not saying that someone shouldn't be asking if these girls are being abused but if this is the sort of evidence the state is using to justify everything going on then there are going to be some huge issues very quickly here.

The issue for the compound is minor girls impregnated by ADULT males. Doesn't the pregnancy rate for minors in Texas overall involve UNDERAGE males?

From what I've been reading the State of Texas has NO IDEA who impregnated them and they had no idea how many were pregnant when they began the raid. (There has been discussion about running DNA tests on every member from the compound to try to sort out some of that.)

They are justifiying their "suspicion" on the fact that 5 of the 200 girls were pregnant. If that (in itself) is adequate cause for suspicion that the girls were impregnated by adults then they'd better lock down the rest of the state and get busy testing.

The question I am raising is "Did they have justification for the raid when they went in or did they conduct the raid to find evidence to create "after the fact" justifation?".

The longer this is going on, the longer it is looking like the latter is true.

There is another basis for the suspicion that the five girls were impregnated by adults. Almost all the teenagers at the compound are girls. Boys leave the compound when they are teenagers to earn money for their family. Girls are never allowed to leave the compound.

From today's court hearing:
"Why are there more girls than boys at the ranch," another child's attorney asks.
"Normally, during the teenage years, the boys will begin working outside the community to earn money," the expert says.

In addition, of course, the imprisoned leader of FLDS, Warren Jeffs, has been known to arrange marriages for girls as young as 13.

it was the discovery of several pregnant underage girls that compelled CPS to remove all of the children.


Houston Chronicle (online)

edgarblythe wrote:

it was the discovery of several pregnant underage girls that compelled CPS to remove all of the children.


Houston Chronicle (online)

How many religious congregations are there where you wouldn't find several teenage pregnancies?

This is an awfully low bar (unequally applied to one religious group) to justify taking away people's children with no evidence of abuse other than their religious affiliation.