Associated Press Residences line the road that leads to the main temple (top center) of the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldorado, where authorities believe young teens were
forced to marry older men.
Posted on 04/13/2008 8:36:24 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Prosecutors have new weapons against polygamy and marriage involving underage teens because Texas lawmakers heeded Utah authorities' experience with the Mormon splinter group raided in Eldorado.
In 2001, Utah authorities began a crackdown on underage marriages and arranged marriages of teenagers, targeting members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon splinter group that had lived in two towns on the Utah-Arizona border.
The allegations made national headlines -- young girls forced to marry older men, teenage boys ejected from the community to create a surplus of brides, and police officers who turned a blind eye toward the practices.
A handful of prosecutions ensued, including a police officer accused of marrying an underage girl.
In 2004, the sect began building a compound in Eldorado -- the result, Utah authorities said, of a prophecy its leader had.
Alarmed that the sect's members were building a compound, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff urged Texas lawmakers in 2005 to strengthen its laws. He described the sect in stark terms.
"Imagine a community run as a theocracy, where women are considered nothing but property," Shurtleff told the Legislature, "where women have two purposes -- to please their man sexually and have children."
Texas lawmakers heeded the advice and made sweeping changes to Texas law against polygamy and underage marriage.
Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, the sponsor of the legislation, says his bill gave authorities the legal basis to enter the compound. He argues that the girl whose outcry of abuse resulted in the raid may not have qualified as a victim under previous statutes. Before 2005, Texas law allowed girls as young as 14 to marry with the permission of their parents.
"We know based on some of the cases -- the main case -- the girl is 16 now, but we know that she wasn't 16 when she was impregnated," Hilderbran said. "This is a good policy change that led to intervention by the state."
Hilderbran's law upgraded the penalties for polygamy from misdemeanor to felony and raised the minimum age that minors with parents' permission can marry from 14 to 16.
Those laws were modeled on similar statutes in Utah.
It remains unclear what, if any, charges will stem from the raid, but some tidbits authorities have announced give a window into what prosecutors could do.
In cases where teenage girls have babies, authorities will look closely at how old they were when they conceived and at the father's age. And because polygamous sects do not file marriage certificates of second and third wives, the law also allows prosecutors to charge people with polygamy in situations where there is an appearance of the crime, such as multiple wives living under one roof.
Prosecuting those provisions, legal experts say, might require the testimony of witnesses who are members of the sect, which is seen as an uphill battle.
Shannon Edmonds, legislative director for the Texas District and County Attorney's Association, said that because polygamy was a misdemeanor in the past, it was rarely prosecuted in cases where sex crimes also were alleged. Now that it carries with it the potential penalty of lengthy prison terms, prosecutors are more likely to prosecute it.
The final version of the bill also made it illegal for children to marry their stepparents. It also provided for the prosecution of parents who allowed children younger than 16 to get married.
Large portions of the law remain untested. Legal experts can point to just one arrest on polygamy charges, a sect leader in the town of Baird named Yisrayl Bill Hawkins. Lawyers involved in the cases won't have previous cases to cite as precedent, which could hamper prosecution or lead to lengthy appeals.
"It's very poorly and awkwardly drafted," said John Young, Hawkins' attorney, "with two different penalty ranges for the exact same conduct." Hawkins, who is not charged with having more than one wife but with promoting polygamy in his West Texas compound, is scheduled for trial in September.
Edmonds said some of the confusion in the bill stems from the way it was passed. Hilderbran initially wrote it as a stand-alone bill that directly targeted the Eldorado sect, which began building a retreat in Schleicher County in 2004.
The original bill included language that would prevent new Texas residents from running for office within a year -- a provision aimed at preventing the sect from taking over local government offices and law enforcement agencies as it did in two neighboring cities, Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah.
Hilderbran's bill was never scheduled for a vote in the House, and with the legislative session coming to a close, he took provisions dealing with polygamy and teenage marriage and inserted them into an overhaul of the Department of Child Protective Services that was pending in the Senate.
Changes to the elections code were not included in the final bill, and fears that the group would dominate Eldorado politics did not come to pass.
Law targeting Eldorado sect
Prohibits marriage of people younger than 16. Requires parental consent of people 16-17.
Prohibits marriage between current and former stepchildren and stepparents.
Provides for felony prosecution of parents who allow children younger than 16 to marry.
Allows for prosecution of people who perform wedding ceremonies for people younger than 16.
Prohibits people from being in a common-law marriage if they are already married.
Makes having sex with first cousins a second-degree felony, while other forms of incest may be considered third-degree felonies.
Voids marriages in which one of the parties is underage, meaning that sexual acts committed during those marriages can be considered felonies.
Associated Press Residences line the road that leads to the main temple (top center) of the Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldorado, where authorities believe young teens were
forced to marry older men.
‘It remains unclear what, if any, charges will stem from the raid, but some tidbits authorities have announced give a window into what prosecutors could do.’
What? Then why did they raid the place?
Um ... Islam?
Does this mean they may start prosecuting serial adulterers ?
What I want to understand is the economic underpinnings of these communities.
Good point...
It happens all the time, that is why the old men alway run most of the young men off.
Economic underpinnings?
Welfare payments.
Two points. 1. This sorry bunch of degenerate child molesters ought never see the outside of a prison again. 2. They are in fact practicing what Joseph Smith preached. Draw your own conclusions.
You are right about that. Mormon scripture said Polygamy was supposed to be "an eternal covenant". The fundies became the fundies when they wouldn't give it up, when Utah renounced polygamy in order to join the United States.
I don't understand why Mormons don't take a closer look at that aspect of their history.
Therefore, by law, a large number of these single women receive welfare. The more children they have, the more money they get.
I read this somewhere a few weeks ago but here's another link on the subject.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/10/earlyshow/main4005519.shtml
This would appear to be a fraud.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001180/posts
Well it's not like they're engaging in underage drinking or trying to transport beer with greater than 3.2% alcohol content.
At first thought maybe, but then again He did not do so with various animal species that are in essence "polygamous". Horses, various other herd animals, and the great apes, (Chimps and especially Gorillas) have an "alpha male" who gets all the females, although in some cases the females are known to "cheat". But in all those other instances of His creation, births are still pretty much 50/50. The young males either are chased off, or chase off the old bull/stallion/Top Ape. Sometimes both, first the get chased off, then the return after beefing up, and after the old Stud gets old and less able to defend his harem.
Sound pretty similar to what happens when humans attempt the practice. Not very good for community relations, or cooperation in the hunt either. Although wolves manage, but they have Alpha females too.
Welfare, i.e. your tax dollars. It’s all a big welfare scam as well as a child rape cult.
Just to clarify a bit, all the mainstream Mormons that I know are pretty good people and live good lives. The country would be improved if everyone lived that way. Still, my opinion is that the religion was founded by one of the most immoral con men in US history.
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