Bountiful, British Columbia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bountiful is a settlement located in the Creston Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, near Cranbrook

Cranbrook, British Columbia

Cranbrook, British Columbia is a city in southeast British Columbia, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River, It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2006, Cranbrook's population is 18,267, and the...

and Creston

Creston, British Columbia

Creston is a town of 4,826 people in the Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The town is located just a few kilometers north of the Porthill, Idaho border crossing into the United States and about a three-hour drive north from Spokane, Washington. It is about a one-hour drive...

. The closest community is Lister, British Columbia.

Bountiful's community is made up of members of a polygamist

Polygamy

Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...

Mormon fundamentalist group. The polygamists live in a commune

Commune (intentional community)

A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...

-style compound outside of Lister. The settlement is named after Bountiful

Bountiful (Book of Mormon)

Bountiful is the name of two places described in the Book of Mormon, a religious narrative dictated in 1829 by Joseph Smith, Jr. The first location is set in the Old World near Jerusalem, and the second location is set somewhere in the Americas...

in the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

History

The first member of the group that bought property near Lister was Harold (aka) Micheal Blackmore, who moved there with his family in 1946. Other members of the church who believed in the principles of plural marriages soon followed. After Winston Blackmore

Winston Blackmore

Winston Blackmore is the leader of Canada’s largest polygamist group. For two decades, Blackmore was the bishop of the Bountiful, British Columbia group of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , a polygamist community in the Creston Valley. In September 2002, FLDS Church...

became the bishop in the 1980s, the group took the name of Bountiful.

In 1998 the estimated population was 600 and has since grown to about 1,000. Most of the residents are descended from only half a dozen men.

The Mormon fundamentalists in Bountiful have divided into two groups: about half are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of the largest organizations in the United States whose members practice polygamy. The FLDS Church emerged in the early twentieth century when its founding members left...

(FLDS Church), and the other half are members of an FLDS-offshoot based on the teachings of their bishop, Winston Blackmore

Winston Blackmore

, who split with the FLDS Church after concluding the president of the church, Warren Jeffs

Warren Jeffs

Warren Steed Jeffs was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints . In 2011, Jeffs was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault....

, had exceeded his authority and become too dictatorial.

Allegations of abuse

On April 19, 2005 Bountiful's leaders held an extensive press conference in an effort to dispel many of the allegations of abuse

Abuse

Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...

that had surrounded their community.

Bountiful has come under intense scrutiny for its involvement in the polygamous sect. Warren Jeffs

Warren Jeffs

Warren Steed Jeffs was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints . In 2011, Jeffs was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault....

, who was considered one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...

, is thought to have visited a dozen or so times in 2005. The Vancouver Sun on January 28, 2006, released information stating that Utah's

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

is collaborating with British Columbia's Attorney General in attempting to deal with polygamy

Polygamy

Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...

and the alleged abuse in these communities. Jeffs was captured by the authorities outside Las Vegas during August 2006 during a routine traffic stop. On September 25, 2007 Jeffs was found guilty of being an accomplice to rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

. Prosecutors said Jeffs forced a 14-year-old girl into marriage and sex with her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs faces five years to life in prison on each of two felony charges. Utah Attorney General

State Attorney General

The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states and territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney general serves as the head of a state department of justice, with responsibilities similar to those...

Mark Shurtleff

Mark Shurtleff is the current attorney general of the state of Utah, United States, a position he has held since January 2001...

said, "Everyone should now know that no one is above the law, religion is not an excuse for abuse and every victim has a right to be heard."

Winston Blackmore's family invited the media to visit on May 16, 2006 in response to a recent visit by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

, indicating that they feel persecuted. Three of his wives may face deportation

Deportation

Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...

, as they are US citizens and would not be considered legally married to a Canadian.

On June 6, 2007, the province of British Columbia announced the appointment of high-profile Vancouver criminal lawyer Richard Peck

Richard Peck (lawyer)

Richard C.C. Peck, QC is a British Columbia lawyer who has been counsel in many significant criminal cases at all judicial levels including the Supreme Court of Canada and has been appointed by provincial governments to serve as a special prosecutor.He graduated from the University of British...

as a special prosecutor

Special prosecutor

A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...

to review the results of a police investigation into possible polygamous activity or other offences by members of the community.
On August 1, 2007, Richard Peck concluded that there isn't enough evidence to charge the group with sexual abuse

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...

or exploitation charges as it has been extraordinarily difficult to find victims willing to testify and the defendants are likely to claim "religious freedom" as a defence.

Peck suggested that British Columbia ask the courts whether the current laws concerning polygamy, specifically Section 293 of the Criminal Code

Criminal Code of Canada

The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...

, are constitutional

Constitution of Canada

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...

. Peck said that it's time to find out once and for all if Canada's laws against polygamy will stand. He stated that, "If the law is upheld, members of the Bountiful community will have fair notice that their practice of polygamy must cease."

Lawyer Leonard Doust said the court should be asked whether Canada's laws against polygamy are constitutionally valid, and whether they could withstand a court challenge on the grounds that multiple marriages fall under the right of religious freedom.
Attorney General

Attorney General of British Columbia

The Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia is a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system within the province of British Columbia, Canada...

Wally Oppal

Wallace Oppal, Q.C. is a Canadian lawyer, former judge and provincial politician, who is currently serving as the Chancellor of the Thompson Rivers University...

said it's no secret he favours a more aggressive approach to the issue, but he must consider the opinions given by two highly respected lawyers — Doust and the special prosecutor who gave the same advice earlier.

Opposition justice critic Leonard Krog

Leonard Krog

Leonard Krog is a Canadian politician and lawyer in British Columbia. He was first elected in the 1991 general election representing the riding of Parksville-Qualicum in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and served as a backbencher in the Mike Harcourt NDP government. He ran for...

said the time for studying the issue is over and the government should lay charges, saying a prosecution would send a message that it's unacceptable to have children being married to old men.

YFZ Ranch Raid

The settlement has close ties to the YFZ Ranch

YFZ Ranch

The YFZ Ranch, also known as the Yearning for Zion Ranch, is a community which housed as many as 700 people just outside of Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. It is owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . It is about southwest of San Angelo and ...

in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, which was the subject of a child abuse investigation and mass removal of its children due to speculation of a culture of underage marriage similar to those rumoured in Canada. Two Canadians from Bountiful travelled to Texas shortly after their daughter was removed in the raid of 2008. They told authorities that their 17-year old daughter was visiting her grandmother, and wanted to take her home. An observer who has compiled genealogical maps of the families says that her father helped build the YFZ compound in Texas, but her grandmother does not live there, and speculates she might have been placed in a "spiritual marriage

Spiritual marriage

Spiritual marriage comes from the idea of "love without sex." It is a practice in which a man and a woman live intimately without engaging in any sexual activities...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Allegations of abuse

YFZ Ranch Raid

See also

External links