B.C. prosecutor recommends no sex charges against polygamist sect members

Canadian Press - August 1, 2007

VICTORIA - A special prosecutor has concluded there's not enough evidence to charge members of a British Columbia polygamist colony with sex offences involving minors, partly because the women involved said wanted to have sex with the older men.

"The real issue here is that the number of so-called complainants that we have have all told us that they consented to the act that took place," Attorney General Wally Oppal said Wednesday.

At the time the incidents are alleged to have taken place, the age of consent was 14, though it's now been raised to 16.

"We really have no case as far as sex assaults are concerned," Oppal said.

So authorities tried to pursue charges that the women had been sexually exploited by a person in a position of trust, but that effort was again thwarted.

"There's no evidence of exploitation," Oppal said.

"In fact, it was surprising to me the number of young women who told police that they were the aggressors, that they wanted to have sex with the older men."

Oppal asked for a special prosecutor to look into the case in May after a months-long review by his ministry's criminal justice branch concluded there was no likelihood of any conviction on the charges.

Oppal said at the time he wanted an outside opinion to be sure.

High-profile Vancouver defence lawyer Richard Peck was appointed. His report was to be made public Wednesday.

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, polygamy is illegal, but constitutional experts have repeatedly warned the Attorney General's office that charges under that law regarding Bountiful may not stand up.

Members of the colony, located in southeastern B.C., belong to a breakaway sect of the Mormon church and believe that in order to get into heaven, men must marry as many women as possible.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church, renounced plygamy in 1890 and the Bountiful group broke away from it. The Mormon Church excommunicates members who practise polygamy.

Oppal said Peck has recommended referring the case to the B.C. Court of Appeal to once and for all determine the validity of the polygamy law.

Oppal said the issue relates to the equality of women and said he personally believes the law against multiple marriages is valid.

He said the referral to the Court of Appeal could be made by the fall.

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