Polygamist Trial Set to Begin

S A L T  L A K E  C I T Y, May 14 -- Tom Green believes it's his outspoken nature more than his polygamist lifestyle that has led to his prosecution in Utah's first high-profile bigamy case in 50 years.

"You stick your head out of the hole, the government will shootit off," said Green, 52, who lives with his five wives and 29children near Trout Creek, 125 miles southwest ofSalt Lake City.

Green has defended his lifestyle on Dateline NBC and TheJerry Springer Show, and held news conferences despite a judge'swarning not to do so.

His high profile caught the attention of Juab County ProsecutorDavid Leavitt, who will try him on charges of bigamy and criminalnonsupport. Jury selection was to begin today. Green could get 25years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Green believes he is being singled out.

Turning a Blind Eye?

"That's been the unwritten rule for 50 years in Utah," Greensaid. "You'll pretend you don't exist and we'll pretend you don'texist."

In addition to the government, Green blames the Mormon church,saying a professor from church-owned Brigham Young Universityhelped prosecutors. A church spokesman declined to comment.

Green is also facing a charge of child rape stemming from hisrelationship with one of his wives when she was 13. No trial datehas been set in the case.

Until the 1950s, polygamists were periodically imprisoned. Somesettled along the Arizona border, which they would cross when oneof the states launched a raid. The last of those raids was carriedout simultaneously by Arizona and Utah authorities. The incidentbackfired when the public, enraged by images of families being tornapart, protested and prosecutors backed off.

Critics Say Polygamy Brings Abuse, Incest, and Fraud

There are now an estimated 30,000 polygamists living in theWest, most of them in Utah, and the practice is once again beingcriticized, in many cases by women who fled plural marriages.

The critics of the practice say that the polygamists'patriarchal societies foster child abuse, incest and — because fewpractitioners can afford to support their enormous families —welfare fraud.