Johnson: Polygamy runs the show
 
By David Bell
Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, Arizona
 
It doesn't matter that their religious leader is behind bars; the Colorado City Police still are following his orders.

That's what Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson said he found when he went to the northern Arizona community late last week. Johnson's attempt to help a fellow fighter of the abuses in Colorado City ran the duo afoul of the local law.

"Flora Jessop was with me, and she wanted to check in on her sister and her mom. So we went to the Utah side for her mother, and the Colorado City Police refused her access. It got pretty heated until a Mohave County Sheriff's Deputy got there to calm the situation down," said Johnson.

State Rep. David Lujan and Donnalee Sarda, regional director for the Arizona chapter of Justice for Children, joined Johnson and Jessop in their visit to Colorado City.

Jessop is a former a member of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that practices polygamy in Colorado City and adjoining city of Hildale, Utah.

Johnson has been working with Jessop on battling the abuses in the community for more than a decade. He said his latest push is to remove the local police from power.

"I'm asking the Arizona Attorney General's Office to decertify the Colorado City Police Department. They're allegiance is to Warren Jeffs and the FLDS, not the law," Johnson said. "If they're gone, that might make things a little better for the people up there."

The Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training Board has already decertified two Colorado City officers for failing to perform their duties.

Johnson said he found the residents who were willing to talk were unsettled by the arrest last week of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed "prophet" who ran the FLDS. He said the people are worried it could be "the end of the world." Johnson is also worried, not about the end of the world, but whether Jeffs will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

"They didn't arrest his brother or his wife who were with him. If that isn't aiding and abetting I don't know what is," said Johnson. "I'm worried about his sentencing if he is convicted. Will he just get a slap on the wrist like (Kelly) Fischer? Will he plea-bargain? He still has unreported money coming in. The last thing we need is for him to become a martyr."

Fischer was successfully prosecuted by Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith for having sex with a girl under 18 - the child brides of Colorado City - but received a sentence of just 45 days.

Johnson said it's important to get a change of venue for the trials of the accused Colorado City men, to encourage tougher sentencing.

"We can't have them near the community. They accept the crime there and the families are encouraging the victims to recant their testimony," Johnson said.

That exact situation happened on the same day Jeffs was taken into custody. As Smith began prosecution of Randy Barlow, the victim, Candi Shapley, refused to answer questions and was held in contempt.

Jeffs was indicted in both Arizona and Utah for arranging marriages between underage girls and older men and was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list until a Nevada Highway Patrolman captured him outside of Las Vegas last Monday.

Arizona filed charges first, but Utah will take the lead in trying Jeffs.

The FLDS preaches that a man can only reach heaven if he has three church-sanctioned wives. And that a woman can only get to heaven by being married to a man with three wives. Because all states in the U.S. only allow a single marriage, the other marriages are church only, called "celestial marriages" and were arranged and performed by Jeffs.

Polygamy is not allowed by the Arizona constitution but it is not listed in Arizona State Statute as a crime.

- You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com
 
havasunews.com
Originally published Monday, September 4, 2006
 
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