Canada polygamists won't be charged

Canadian prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against members of a polygamous colony in British Columbia with Utah ties.

The decision came after British Columbia's Ministry of Attorney General could find no child brides willing to say they were forced into a polygamous marriage.

Deseret Morning News graphic    Special prosecutor report (581 KB .pdf file)

"All of the witnesses have said they consented to all the sexual activity, so that makes our job most difficult to prosecute," provincial Attorney General Wally Oppal told reporters Wednesday.

For the past year and a half, the tiny polygamous community of Bountiful, British Columbia, has been the subject of investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and prosecutors. The community is made up of members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, based on the Utah-Arizona border, and a group that broke away shortly after FLDS leader Warren Jeffs took power.

Canadian authorities were looking into allegations of polygamy, sexual exploitation and the trafficking of child brides across the U.S.-Canadian border. In a report released Wednesday, a special prosecutor said it would be tough to get a conviction under Canada's polygamy laws or sexual and marriage-related offenses.

"There is no substantial likelihood of conviction," special prosecutor Richard Peck wrote. "In any event, these other offenses do not address the core of the problem."

Polygamy, Peck said, is the root of the problem.

"Polygamy is the underlying phenomenon from which all the other alleged harms flow, and the public interest would best be served by addressing it directly," he wrote.

To that end, Oppal said he is considering asking Canada's Supreme Court or British Columbia's Court of Appeal to examine whether polygamy is protected under the nation's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Oppal said he believes it runs contrary to the country's stance on equal rights for women.

"I don't think right-thinking Canadians would think that's proper or that's appropriate to have three or four or five wives," he said. "Before we prosecute anyone, we have to ensure the laws are in place."

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