Road to Polygamy: Part 2
 
KXLY News 4
No Tresspassing

A group of religious fundamentalists operating on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border are raising the eyebrows of law enforcement. The group known as Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day's Saints claim they're being persecuted for their religion; others claim they're dangerous criminals.

For decades, FLDS members have lived in communities along the Utah/Arizona border and just across Idaho's border in Bountiful, British Columbia. Polygamy is the corner-stone of their beliefs, as men believe they need more than one wife to reach the highest plains of heaven. Former church members say young women are forced to marry in their teens, and that abuse and incest are common.

Now, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is mounting a crusade to stop it. He claims crimes go far beyond polygamy: to everything from welfare fraud to violence. "We hear that children are being taught and forced to kill animals in a bloody manner, so they get used to killing," Shurtleff claims. "That there are people that if the prophet tells them to kill, they will kill."

The groups lawyer says those accusations are ridiculous and politically-motivated. "He either is making those statements knowing that they're not true or is not checking them out - or is relying on some extremely poor information."

Mark Shurtleff is enlisting the help of law enforcement agents on both sides of the border. He's asking Boundary County, Idaho Sheriff George Voyles to keep an eye on young women being trafficked through his area to Canada. "We're not making it easy," says Voyles. "We have to have a crime that's committed or reported before we can act on anything. We've heard many rumors and stories about what's going on, but these are things we haven't been able to prove."

Shurtleff hopes more young women find courage to leave the group and come forward. That way, his office can gather evidence and mount a case against FLDS leaders. Until then, a group of former sister-wives is taking matters into their own hands. A Calgary-based attorney is about to file two class-action lawsuits. One, against FLDS men for not paying their former wives what they're entitled to under the law. Second, against the province of British Columbia, for not enforcing educational requirements in Bountiful schools.

Polygamy is illegal in both countries, but law enforcement in both countries say laws outlawing polygamy may conflict with laws protecting freedom of religion.
 
KXLY News 4
Original broadcast November 5, 2003
 
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