Child rape wrapped in religion

The Arizona Republic

August 22, 2007

Child rape can take on a Twilight Zone quality when the rapists identify their victims as "wives."

Needed clarity comes from Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, who gets credit for taking on the thankless job of prosecuting accused child rapists.

"This case isn't about polygamy," Smith said. "It is about the defendant having sexual conduct with a minor."

Smith said this as one of eight cult members who were accused of polygamous sexual unions with young girls was handed a 45-day sentence.

The unrepentant 49-year-old cult member fathered a child by a 16-year-old girl. Dale Evans Barlow called her his third "wife," which insults marriage. The lawyer for the eight cult members said they were being religiously persecuted, which insults religion.

These people were members of a cult run by Warren Jeffs, who is awaiting trial on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice. In Jeffs' cult, young girls are routinely forced to become the multiple "wives" of much older cult favorites. Young boys are routinely run out of town to decrease the excess male population that builds up in polygamous communities.

Prosecutors, including Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, deserve gratitude for standing up for victims. Sadly, the prosecutions did little to bring the law crashing down on the polygamists.

Four of the accused got sentences ranging from one day to nine months. One was found not guilty. Charges were dismissed against another because the reputed victim would not testify. Charges were dropped in another case because of jurisdictional issues. The last of the eight will be tried next month.

It looks like the polygamists are left to laugh at how ineffective our laws are at stopping them. That's not how we look at it.

The prosecutions were a victory. For decades, Arizona turned away from what was going on. Prosecutors should continue to go after this cult because we all become victims when an organization that specializes in child rape is allowed to wrap itself in holy cloth and call itself a religion.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0822wed2-22.html