...Early this week a member of the Kingstons, a large clan in Utah that has practiced bigamy, was sentenced to a one-year prison term for taking as his wife a 15-year-old cousin who was also his aunt...

...We've all just turned a blind eye to what's going on, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says in an interview. It's an embarrassment.

Despite the protestations that they are just living in accordance with an ecclesiastical mandate, the people that draw the wrath of the law are in it for nothing more than power.

In August, Hildale police officer Rodney Holm was convicted of bigamy and sexual misconduct with a minor whom he took as his third wife. Shurtleff then began moves to decertify the police department in Hildale. The law has not been there to protect women and children, Mr Shurtleff says. The town is in the absolute control of a religious zealot.

Shurtleff has charged that young men are often driven from the communities to provide free reign to the elders to arrange plural marriages.

Sex crimes are just part of the law enforcement focus. Shurtleff's office is also investigating allegations of welfare fraud, tax evasion, and organized crime in which polygamist groups may launder money in offshore accounts.

On polygamy, a crackdown and a bid for legitimacy - Christian Science Monitor, 30th January 2004.