Oppal seeks another legal review of B.C. polygamists

Attorney General Wally Oppal has asked for yet another review of whether members of a B.C. polygamist colony should be charged with sexual offences.

High-profile lawyer Leonard Doust is being asked tore-examine a review that concluded there wasn't enough evidence to charge members of the breakaway Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C.

Special prosecutor Richard Peck concluded in a report released in August that the provincial government should ask the courts to rule on the constitutional validity of Canada's laws against polygamy.

Peck said a reference to the court would avoid a lengthy criminal trialin which the defendants would likely claim the laws violate their right toreligious freedom and where getting witnesses to testify could be extraordinarily difficult.

"Peck looked at it from one particular angle as to the reference part, not necessarily from the perspective of whether we should lay charges and let the defence raise [the constitutionality], and I've always sort of felt that way about it," said Oppal, a former judge, in an interview with the Canadian Press.

"I just want to cover all bases. We just want to be cautious before we do those things."

Peck's report itself was a review of past recommendations by other Crown lawyers over the years who concluded the government was at risk of losing any trial on polygamy charges, thereby putting Canada's law in question.

Women being exploited

Critics of Bountiful have repeatedly complained the government is doing nothing but studying the question while women are exploited.

Peck had also looked at whether members of the community could be charged with sexual offences, which was suggested as another legal avenue by which the government could try to stop alleged forced marriages of young women to older men. Peck concluded that wasn't an option, and that a constitutional reference question was likely the only way for the government to proceed.

Doust is being asked to review the case and other factors Peck considered in coming to his conclusion.

If Doust concludes there's enough evidence of a crime to meet the criminal justice branch's charge approval policy, Oppal has asked that Doust conduct the prosecution.

Peck declined to comment on the ministry's decision when contacted by phone on Friday.

RCMP sought charges in 1990, 2006

Members of the colony, located in southeastern B.C., belong to a breakaway sect of the Mormon church and believe that in order to get into heaven, men must marry as many women as possible.

RCMP recommended charging members of the colony as far back as 1990.

The Crown decided not to proceed based on legal opinions that the law against polygamy would be struck down as an infringement on religious freedom.

In 2006, the RCMP again recommended charges, this time under the sexual exploitation provision of the Criminal Code, which prohibits an adult from having sex with someone aged 14 to 18 when the adult is in a position of authority.

Again, the Crown concluded a conviction was unlikely.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church, renounced polygamy in 1890. The Mormon Church excommunicates members who practise polygamy.

Oppal said there was no deadline for Doust's report.