Polygamy at center of custody battle
 
By Mike Watkiss / 3TV reporter
KTVK-TV - Phoenix
 
Laurice Jessop, 35, and her husband, Nathan Burnman, were once a happily married couple, wed for nearly 13 years and the parents of six beautiful children. The four girls and two boys range in ages from 6 to 12. The youngest are an adorable set of triplets who are now at the center of an ugly and bitter custody fight.

"Problems developed in the marriage because Mr. Burnham wanted to return to polygamy," said Michael Parks, Jessop's attorney at the time.

According to Laurice Jessop, her marriage to Burnham broke up in 2004 because Burnham wanted to start taking additional wives and practice polygamy.

In fact, since the divorce, Burnham has allegedly taken a 19-year-old bride and moved his home to the polygamist community of Centennial Park, Ariz.

More than 20 years ago, most of the residents of Centennial Park broke off from the more notorious and repressive polygamists in the community of Colorado City, which is just a couple of miles away.

Today, a new polygamist prophet named John Timpson guides most of the lives of Centennial Park's people.

And it is that polygamist belief system and that lifestyle that Jessop is now battling to keep her children from being taught is their only way to heaven.

Despite the fact that polygamy is prohibited by Arizona's Constitution and is illegal in Utah, judges in both states have long been hesitant to factor that into custody battles.

In the divorce, Jessop was granted primary custody, but that hasn't stopped Burnham from doing everything in his power to get the children back.

His most recent attempt occurred last October when Burnham showed up at a Salt Lake school with a new court order obtained without Jessop's knowledge and removed the kids without notifying Jessop, taking them back to his home in Centennial Park.

After the kids were taken, the school's principal sent Jessop a letter apologizing, but when a Salt Lake television station questioned the principal, she said the letter had been altered and the apology apparently added.

But late last month, Jessop was once again granted primary custody of her children.
 
azfamily.com
Originally published November 6, 2006
 
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