| State AGs reach out to crime victims | |
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By Patrice St. Germain patrices@thespectrum.com | |
ST. GEORGE - Several years ago, Fawn Broadbent, a former Colorado City resident, left her home, family and community armed only with an eighth-grade education. Later testing at a fifth-grade level, Broadbent continued to study and work hard to overcome the shortcoming with her education and her limited knowledge of the outside world. Broadbent has overcome numerous obstacles and will soon graduate from high school with a 4.0 grade point average. Broadbent was one of the panelists during a town hall meeting held jointly Tuesday night by the Utah and Arizona Attorneys General. The well-attended meeting at the Dixie Convention Center, held in conjunction with National Crime Victims' Rights Week, is the third such meeting to reach out to victims in isolated communities to provide equal access to justice, safety and services. For Arizona and Utah, that focus is on the victims of the polygamist communities of Hildale and Colorado City. The Attorneys General were joined by a diverse group of panelists including Broadbent. Broadbent said the name "The Lost Boys," given to those who leave or are kicked out of the communities, is wrong since the girls and boys who leave whether of their own volition or not, are true survivors. Broadbent said some of the issues facing the youth that leave the society are not only the lack of education, but the cultural differences and how difficult it is to find the social skills needed outside the community. "Some, if not all of us, need counseling, but there isn't people qualified to help us," Broadbent said. Not only do those who live in the secular communities once known as Short Creek have difficulty adjusting to the outside world, the outside world has difficulties relating and adjusting to those who may live in the area but are not members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Natalie Hammon, teacher and basketball coach for the El Capitan school, formerly known as the Colorado City Unified School District, said she wanted the children at the school to know about playing sports, being part of a team and enjoying the same activities she enjoyed in school. While it took some time, her team finally got to play against another school. She told the girls that if they got within 40 points of the other team that they were doing well. Not only did the girl's team get within 40 points, but it beat the opposing team by 12 points. The boys also started off winning their game but halfway through the game, the team started getting heckled by some and the audience cheered as someone yelled out "hang the prophet." The boys ended up losing but were told by the coach how well they played. A few "fans" waited after the game to meet the boys and gave them a few punches and five boys ended up getting beaten. Hammon said most of the children at the school are from communities surrounding Colorado City and most are not even from families with polygamist backgrounds or members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but were still labeled as such. Leanne Timpson, principal of a charter school in Centennial Park and member of the Centennial Park Action Committee, talked about how her group is working to deliver the correct view of polygamy. Timpson, a polygamist from Centennial Park, said despite the action committee's work, polygamy today is more mocked and misrepresented in published stories and that polygamists are victims of hate crimes. "I am often asked, how can I justify myself breaking the law," Timpson said. "I am obeying and honoring all laws. I am not a lawbreaker. I am practicing civil disobedience." Timpson said the polygamist community of Centennial Park is working to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision and decriminalize polygamy. "Polygamy does not equal abuse. Abuse is a human condition," Timpson said. "All of humanity faces abuse and we are all trying to learn how to get rid of it." Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the steps being taken to help those in Hildale and Colorado City who want help is truly a historic endeavor and said change is always painful but things will get better in the long run. Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General, said in addition to the abuses, his office is looking at the issue of schooling and said children are required to be in school and there is a large number of children in Colorado City who are not getting an education. Other panelists who spoke included Gary Engels, investigator for the Mohave County Attorney's Office, and Maureen Crump, Utah Safe Passage Grant case manager. The meeting was moderated by Ken Verdoia. | |
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TheSpectrum.com Originally published April 25, 2007 | |
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