Chicago Tribune, Saturday, March 22, 2003
By Judith Graham

SALT LAKE CITY - The kidnapping of teenager Elizabeth Smart by a man who allegedly wanted her to be his "plural wife" has fueled concern in Utah over young girls' involvement in the deeply controversial practice of polygamy.

Activists say that, although the circumstances of Smart's case are unique, sexual abuse of young girls and incest are common in many polygamist groups and families, and that enforcement of anti-polygamy laws is lax.

The "tragic irony is that the horrible things that happened to (her) happen every day of the year to other young girls in these communities," said David Leavitt, an attorney who prosecuted one of Utah's best-known polygamists in 2001.

Since the Utah attorney general's office began focusing more attention on the issue a couple of years ago, "we've repeatedly heard evidence of older men marrying young girls and taking them into polygamy," said spokesman Paul Murphy, noting the girls are often 13 to 16 years old.

"Lost blessing"

Brian David Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet who endorsed polygamy in a 27-page religious tract, is alleged to have abducted Smart -- then 14 -- as one of seven wives he hoped to take. He then raped or sexually abused her after threatening to harm Smart and her family, prosecutors charged last week in a criminal complaint.

Once mostly a western U.S. phenomenon associated with the Mormon church, polygamy has now spread across the nation, flourishing largely in secret and often in smaller, rural communities. Mormon leaders formally rejected the practice in 1890 and regularly excommunicate members who participate.

Mitchell, once a devout Mormon, was expelled from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last year after vowing to restore the "lost blessing" of polygamy.

Utah officials, who say child abuse, welfare fraud, domestic violence and tax fraud are also found in polygamous communities, claim they've worked hard over the past few years to toughen laws that impose criminal sanctions on people who force underage girls into marriage. A new law awaiting the governor's signature would make it a second-degree felony for a married man to take another wife under the age of 18.

But those efforts are little more than window dressing, several lawyers and activists charge. New laws are rarely enforced, resources needed to pursue these cases aren't available, and prosecutors are loath to go after polygamists who take child brides or engage in sexual abuse, they said.

"Overwhelmingly, as a society we say these families aren't like our families and these children aren't our children, so why should we care? Because of how young girls in these situations are traumatized," said Leavitt, a descendent of a historically polygamous family, and brother of Utah's current governor.

Saving souls

Many Mormon fundamentalists embrace the church's original doctrines, including its endorsement of polygamy, and are convinced its current policies against the practice are wrong. By having as many wives as possible and bringing as many children as possible into the world, they believe, unborn souls have the opportunity to enter righteous homes and be saved.

A polygamist whom Leavitt prosecuted, Tom Green, was married to two mother-daughter pairs, and had begun a sexual relationship with one of his wives at the age of 13, according to information presented at his criminal trial. Another recent case involved a 16-year-old girl who was badly beaten after running away from an arranged marriage to her uncle, David Ortell Kingston, then 33.

Reliable data about the extent of polygamy in the United States is difficult to find. Many polygamists are staunchly anti-government and do not participate in the census or seek birth certificates for their children.

Often, only first marriages are recorded; subsequent marriages are typically religious ceremonies with no legal documentation. Many adults in these families do not have Social Security numbers.

Government officials guess that the number of polygamists in Utah ranges from 30,000 to 50,000; anti-polygamist activists say the number across the United States is double that, at least.

Some women report being deeply satisfied and fulfilled with their polygamous families, including multiple sister wives with whom they say they forge close friendships.

Twisting beliefs

Through years of research, Andrea Moore Emmett, a writer who has researched polygamy for several decades, has identified 13 long-standing polygamous "clans," some of which have hundreds of members, and some of which have thousands. Each clan is led by a "prophet," usually an older man who claims absolute religious authority over the group.

Even more common are "independents": men who, like Mitchell, claim to have religious revelations directing them to establish polygamous families. (The Mormon church believes in personal revelations that can be life-transforming.)

Such families tend to live in secret, under the sway of their head male.

It's not uncommon for Mormon girls to be recruited into these fundamentalist households through Mormon singles' dances or chat groups on the Internet, anti-polygamist activists said. Taught to be obedient and to respond to male authority from an early age, these girls are ideal potential converts to polygamy, activists said.

Mitchell may have preyed upon the religious convictions of Smart, who comes from a devout Mormon family, during her captivity, activists said.

"In the Mormon church, we're always waiting for the one man who will come who is strong and mighty and who will put the church in order," said Carmen Thompson, 45, a mainstream Mormon who became the sixth of eight wives of a independent fundamentalist Mormon.

"I'm sure this is who Mitchell told this girl he was," said Thompson, one of a group of former polygamist wives now speaking out against the practice. "That's what these men do: They take what you think you know and twist it and turn it and use it to gain control over you."

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