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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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 Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:43 pm Post subject: Polygamist gets 45 days for sex with teen bride |
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Polygamist gets 45 days for sex with teen bride
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Polygamist gets 45 days for sex with teen bride
Investigator fears sentence sends wrong message
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
Thursday, August 3, 2006; Posted: 5:14 p.m. EDT (21:14 GMT)
(Court TV) -- An Arizona judge has sentenced a polygamist to 45 days in county jail for having sex with a teenager he took as his third wife.
The sentence disappointed authorities in Kingman, Arizona, who had hoped a harsher punishment for defendant Kelly Fischer would discourage others in the church from taking teenage wives.
Fischer was the first of seven members of the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints (FLDS) to be tried for plural marriages to minors.
"I don't know if we've sent a strong enough message to these people," said Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County Attorney's office.
About 7,000 FLDS members live in the twin border towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.
Members of the group, which broke with mainstream Mormons in the 1890s over polygamy, believe that only those in plural marriages can reach the highest level of heaven.
Warren Jeffs, the church leader or "prophet," is a federal fugitive from charges in both states stemming from his alleged arrangement of "celestial marriages" between teenage girls and older, married men.
The county prosecutor, Matt Smith, had asked Judge Steven Conn to sentence Fischer, 39, to some prison time. Fischer faced a minimum sentence of probation and a maximum of four years in prison.
As part of the sentence, Fischer must complete three years probation and register as a sex offender. He must report to jail by November 1.
Although polygamy is unconstitutional in Arizona, it is not a crime. Law enforcement largely left the FLDS alone until about 18 months ago, when Mohave County began investigating allegations of sex with underage girls.
Relying on birth certificates and testimony of former church members, a jury convicted Fischer last month of sexual contact with a minor and conspiracy for having sex with a 16-year-old.
The woman, now 21 and the mother of three children by Fischer, refused to cooperate with the prosecution and was among 130 people to send letters vouching for his character to the judge.
"We have a beautiful family together. I love my husband. He loves us and takes very good care of us. The children adore their father ... I don't need to explain my personal life to anyone," she wrote in the letter.
Fischer addressed the court for about a half hour, telling the judge that there was no coercion or abuse in his household.
"I can say for my life and my family that there's no one that's been pressured into doing anything they didn't want to do," the Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted Fischer as saying. "Every single person is very happy. There's no pain."
According to the paper, the judge told Fischer his religious beliefs did not justify breaking the law.
"There is no reason why people in Colorado City, simply because they subscribe to a different religious belief, should believe that they have the right to do something that everyone else in society cannot do," the judge said.
A day after the sentencing, Smith, the county prosecutor, was circumspect about the possible impact of any punishment handed down by an authority outside the insular community.
"I would've like to have seen him get more time, not so much that he needed to get it, but more along the lines of a deterrent factor," Smith said.
But, he said, "Does what we say really matter to them? It's what Warren Jeffs says that matters, and if he says marry a 16-year-old, then they are going to do that."
Another FLDS member, Donald Barlow, goes on trial on August 15. |
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justagirl
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Cheonan/Portland
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| I just moved to northern Arizona, and apparently there are several polygamist towns around our area. Colorado City is the one everyone talks about. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Ah, good old Mormons. They marry early because it's the only way for them to get any action. Their only form of birth control is that hideous underwear they have. |
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spike.matt
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| It seems that these are not your garden variety normal LDS'. They seem to be an extreme branch that split off over the whole multiple wives things. Saying that these are Mormans, and lumping all mormans in with these few individuals is inappropriate and untrue. |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Ya, this is a branch-off sect of them, and not real mormons (or the other way aruond, but they are a minority). Still, tons of states banning gay marriage, but marriage with tons of teenage girls, eh, not that bad. |
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peony
Joined: 30 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| you guys need to d/l and watch 'Big Love', it completed its first season on HBO several months ago and is strangely addictive |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| peony wrote: |
| you guys need to d/l and watch 'Big Love', it completed its first season on HBO several months ago and is strangely addictive |
I totally agree with that. Made me look at the issue differently. |
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peony
Joined: 30 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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| hey Capt Corea, come on back, we miss ya! |
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numazawa
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Location: The Concrete Barnyard
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| Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 12:40 am Post subject: |
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| Why did he get only "45 days for sex" with her? Did they figure he'd get bored with her after that? |
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GoshiwonGuy
Joined: 31 Oct 2003
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:47 am Post subject: |
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So a guy screwed his 16 year old wife. And he might even have more than one.
Big deal.
GG |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Ah, good old Mormons. They marry early because it's the only way for them to get any action. Their only form of birth control is that hideous underwear they have. |
Bigoted/Ignorant quote of the month.
FYI: FLDS doesn't = Mormon Church.
If you're going to be a bigot, at least figure out the difference. |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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| peony wrote: |
| you guys need to d/l and watch 'Big Love', it completed its first season on HBO several months ago and is strangely addictive |
Great show!!!!
"Live the Principle!" |
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Zulu
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Ah, good old Mormons. They marry early because it's the only way for them to get any action. Their only form of birth control is that hideous underwear they have. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| If you're going to be a bigot, at least figure out the difference. |
I agree. It makes a world of difference, dare I say a universe of difference whether it is the regular Mormons or this branch who teach that men in good standing get to be gods of their own universe after death. |
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Dan The Chainsawman
Joined: 05 May 2005
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| Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:29 am Post subject: |
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| Will he be elgible for conjugal visits? |
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