To the Editor:
Our Creston group, Altering Destiny Through Education, is pleased that the B.C. government has finally laid polygamy charges against two well-known polygamists from the religious cult in Bountiful.
We are disappointed that charges for trafficking and sexual exploitation of underage girls were not laid against Winston Blackmore, who admitted under oath in February 2014 in Utah that at least 10 of his 26 wives were under the age of 18 when he “married” them in religious ceremonies. We wonder how many of these young girls he married when he was Superintendent of Bountiful Elementary School. The Criminal Code states that a person in a position of authority cannot have sex with anyone under the age of 18. We also wonder how many of Winston’s “brides” were trafficked illegally into Canada.
Because the B.C. government decided not to pursue polygamy charges against the leaders of Bountiful in the early 1990s, the trafficking of children, the girls for “celestial wives” and boys as unpaid labour, accelerated with the government’s green light. We recommend the book A Cruel Arithmetic by Craig Jones about the polygamy trial. It is available in the Creston Valley Public Library. If you read the testimonies of the people from Creston who were raised in Bountiful, you will know the harm it caused the women and children as the authorities looked the other way. A religious lifestyle that harms people cannot be above the law.
Audrey Vance and Linda Price
Co-Chairs, Altering Destiny Through Education