Mother and step-father respond to teen tug of war
 
By Darcy Spears
KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas
 
A family court judge wants more time and outside evaluation on the case of a Las Vegas teenager who's at the center of a custody battle. But this is no ordinary family squabble. It involves concerns about a young girl being forced to move to an area dominated by a polygamist group.

The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints have been big news for their controversial beliefs, treatment of women and children, and their leader Warren Jeffs' recent arrest on rape charges. But a local mother told a judge Monday that bringing that into her custody case is just a smokescreen.

16-year-old Durango High School student Christine wants no part of the rural life her mother and step-father want to move her to. She's lived here in Las Vegas all her life, but Jennifer and Marcus Bistline want to take her to Cane Beds, Arizona, which is next door to an infamous FLDS stronghold.

"It's a desolate strip of desert two miles away from Colorado City and it is full of the people who are outcasts from the polygamists," says Christine's aunt, Lynn Reynolds.

Reynolds and Christine's other aunt, Carol Scott, are helping the teen fight her mother and stepfather in family court. Several of Marcus Bistline's family members are outcasts from the FLDS church. A few are former polygamists. Jennifer says that's not and won't be their life. And she wants a family court judge to believe that, too.

"When I bought my land up there, I actually looked at all my neighbors' property to make sure that they were all individually owned," said Jennifer. "None are church-owned and none are associated with the polygamy religion. I did not want that around my children."

Anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop, who grew up there and escaped that life, is helping Christine's grandmother fight to keep her. "I spoke with the young girl today and she has, in fact, been approached by men on visits up there as a prospective wife already."

"They do not go outside of their own group to recruit people," countered Christine's step-father, Marcus. "That does not happen that I'm aware of. I've never seen it before in my life and, granted, I would have. I've been there; I was there for 20 years or so."

"Taking this 16-year-old girl, fresh blood which is desperately needed in these communities as evidenced by the birth defects, she becomes a target for every pervert up there," says Flora.

Jennifer Bistline maintains, despite the geographic proximity, her daughter's life would be a world away from that of FLDS women.

The Bistline's say they're moving to Cane Beds, Arizona to pursue a rural life in a small town with little crime and a safe, family-centered environment. They acknowledge their daughter's desire to stay here in Las Vegas where she's enrolled in the ROTC program and on track for a scholarship.

An outside evaluation by a court-appointed psychologist will be completed by mid-January. The trial date was set for February 28.
 
KVBC.com
Originally broadcast October 12, 2006
 
Back