Runaway Girl Looking for 'Normal
Life'
Teen says polygamous family set up her marriage to older man
BY DAWN HOUSE,
ASHLEY ESTES
and KEVIN CANTERA
A 15-year-old girl who ran away from her polygamous family saying
she wanted to avoid an arranged marriage maintained she just looks
for a chance to live a normal life and get an education. "I want
to get married when I am ready -- not before," the girl
said adamantly, speaking on a video tape. "I want to choose who I
marry." The tape was recorded by child-abuse prevention activists
who invited the girl to stay with them earlier this week. Activist
Les Zitting and the girl met with Washington County Sheriff Kirk
Smith on Wednesday, when the sheriff decided to return the girl to
her father. The father promised he would drive his daughter to
eastern Colorado to
live with an uncle.
Contacted Friday evening by The Salt Lake Tribune, the girl's
uncle said she and her father arrived at his eastern Colorado home
Thursday night. The girl's parents signed power of attorney over
to him, and he will enroll the girl in school, said the uncle, who
claims to have had no contact with the
polygamist community for 28 years. That should please the teen,
who says she has not been allowed to attend school since the sixth
grade.
"I wish
I had [an education] so bad. I miss school," the girl said on the
tape. The girl had been on vacation in Salt Lake City last week
and said on the tape she dreaded returning to her parents' home in
Colorado City, Ariz. With the help of a cousin, she contacted
Hurricane resident Jay Beswick, an advocate with the child-abuse
prevention organization For Kids' Sake, and Zitting, a St. George
resident. Zitting wants to start a support group for those wanting
to leave The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, based in the border communities of Colorado City and
Hildale, Utah. The girl's parents are members of the polygamous
group, headed by the ailing Rulon Jeffs. The girl believed she
would be forced to marry 45-year-old Warren Jeffs, Rulon's son and
acting church president, Zitting said. "If they think that
marrying me would keep me away from the outside world, then they
would probably force me to do it," the girl said. From Monday
until Wednesday, the teen stayed with Beswick and then Zitting,
who claims that a Washington County deputy sheriff promised that
the girl would not be returned to her parents. Arizona child
protection officials will not investigate because the girl's
parents have said they will not insist on the marriage, Utah
officials said Friday.
"What
[Arizona officials are] saying is, they don't see it as
an allegation [of abuse] because her father is saying he's not
going to force her to marry," said Abel Ortiz, child welfare
projects director for the Utah Division of Child and Family
Services. Ortiz said the agency was hesitant to act because there
was no history of physical or sexual abuse, and the family lives
in Arizona. "If she was in Utah, and family was in Utah and made
this threat it would have been clearer that we had jurisdiction to
detain this child. But the two factors combined made it even more
unclear," Ortiz said. On April 30, a new Utah law will go into
effect, allowing prosecutors to file criminal charges against
those who arrange underage marriages. "We want these forced
marriages to be handled like any other abuse case," said Sen. Ron
Allen, D-Tooele, who sponsored the bill. "They are not to be taken
lightly. I consider it a form of child abuse to marry off a young
girl under duress."
Under
the law, agreeing or threatening to marry a child under 16 is
a third-degree felony. Persons performing such marriages could
also face felony charges. Those under 16 must have written
authorization from a juvenile court to legally marry. The
15-year-old girl's case "has been very upsetting and inexplicable
. . . that they turned her back to the parents," Allen said. " I'm
hoping there's a good explanation, because on the surface it seems
outright irresponsible." Smith said he did not contact the Utah
Department of Human Services or the Children's Justice Center in
St. George, which deals with abused children and runaways, because
the girl gave no indication that she was being abused in any way.
"She
loves her parents, and to their credit, they said they have
told their children they don't have to be part of the polygamous
lifestyle if they don't want to," said Smith. "Someone on the
outside can worry that children are being groomed to be
polygamists, but I can't charge into someone's home on that worry
any more than I could if someone told me that Mormon parents are
grooming their children to someday be LDS missionaries." The
sheriff did not interview the girl alone during the
three-hour meeting he had with her and her parents. But he said
that a deputy sheriff pulled the girl aside, and asked if she was
comfortable with the move to Colorado.
"She indicated to the deputy that she was,'' said Smith. The
girl's father, contacted at the uncle's home, declined to
comment. The Jeffs could not be reached. On tape, the girl said
she hopes her actions would help others free themselves from an
unwanted lifestyle. "I want to open a pathway for those who just
want to live a normal life," she said.
