Special prosecutor investigating polygamy against minors gets RCMP report

VICTORIA – An RCMP report into possible sexual offences against children at a polygamous commune in southeastern British Columbia has now been handed to a special prosecutor.

The Criminal Justice Branch says the Mounties expect to have more material in the coming monthsabout the activities of individuals in Bountiful, B.C.

The branch says it will likely be several months before prosecutor Peter Wilson reviews all the documents and makes a final charge assessment about the offences, alleged to have occurred since the 1980s.

Wilson was appointed special prosecutor last year to review any evidence the RCMP collects and consider charges that could include human trafficking, child exploitation and polygamy.

The Mounties have been investigating plural marriages in Bountiful for nearly two decades.

Two community leaders were charged with polygamy in 2009 but the charges were later thrown out when a judge ruled the men’s rights were violated.

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