To the Editor:
We are writing this in reply to the letter on Bountiful by George Huscroft (“None have right to judge”, April 21 Advance, page 8).
It is hard to believe that he thinks that if someone works hard and supports the economy of the Creston Valley it is alright to take advantage of young girls. It is a shame that our local paper has not printed any of the articles on the trial on polygamy that just ended in Vancouver. On March 29, the judge allowed excerpts from Warren Jeff’s diary that stated in 2005 he had called two men in Bountiful, B.C., and told them to bring their 12-year-old daughters to the United States to be wed. Jeffs, who was in his late 40s or early 50s at the time and already married to dozens of women, told the men the girls would become his new wives.
We would like to suggest that anyone who has not read this article should Google “marriages to 12 year old BC girls” and find out what goes on under the guise of freedom of religion. We can’t believe that any self-respecting father, especially one who has daughters, would not find this sickening.
It is also absurd to think that the girls living in this cult and that are being sexually abused will have the confidence or know how to seek the help that is available in Creston for victims of abuse. Yes, we have laws to protect these children but somehow it seems these laws are not enforced in Bountiful. Teachers in the public school system who sexually abuse anyone under the age of 18 are charged. When Winston Blackmore was the superintendent of Bountiful school and married to 15 year olds, he admitted it on national TV and yet he has never been charged under section 153 of the Criminal Code. Why?
Audrey arrived in the Creston Valley 48 years ago and was disgusted to realize that underage girls were being given as celestial wives to much older men. Why were the laws against child abuse not being enforced, even though professionals reported that children were having babies?
We are not judging religious beliefs we are saying that you cannot use religion as an excuse to abuse women and children.
Linda Price
Audrey Vance
Creston