An attorney who has represented the FLDS Church was critical of Abbott's comments.

"I thought that the bigamy law was designed to protect women who are victims of a fraudulent marriage," said Rod Parker, a spokesman for the FLDS. "If he (Abbott) intends to prosecute these women, then he is prosecuting the victims he is trying to protect."

In Utah, prosecutors have only charged bigamy as an enhanceable offense when pursuing other crimes within polygamy. The Utah Attorney General's Office said such prosecutions are monumental tasks.

"We have decided to investigate and prosecute the crimes affecting the most vulnerable people, and that's mostly children," Murphy said.

Utah's attorney general has said that to go after polygamy alone could cripple the state's child welfare system with thousands of parents in prison and thousands more children in foster care.

Still, Utah has successfully prosecuted polygamists Tom Green and FLDS member Rodney Holm for bigamy, alongside other offenses accusing them of marriages with minors. Part of the problem that county attorneys in Utah have faced is getting victims to testify.

"I think our office has made the commitment after we learned there were children being forced into marriages and being abused," Murphy said. "We were doing everything we could to make sure that perpetrators were prosecuted and children were protected."

In another sign that the topic of polygamy has become part of a national media feeding frenzy, Shurtleff was in the FLDS strongholds of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., on Thursday for a taping of the "Dr. Phil" show.

---

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com