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Two members of polygamous sect sentenced to jail terms

Aug 11, 2017 | 11:56 AM

CRANBROOK, B.C. – A former husband and wife from the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., are going to jail for taking a 13-year-old girl into the United States to marry the now-imprisoned leader of their sect

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has sentenced Brandon Blackmore to a year in jail, while his ex-wife, Gail Blackmore, has been handed a term of seven months.

Both have been ordered to serve 18 months’ probation.

The pair were found guilty in February of the charge of taking a child under the age of 16 out of Canada for sexual purposes.

Their trial heard the girl was taken into the United States in 2004 to marry Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who is now serving a life sentence for assaulting two of his child brides.

Justice Paul Pearlman says a term of imprisonment is warranted in the case to send a clear message to other members of the polygamous community.