VANCOUVER, B.C. (CN) - A leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who allegedly has 19 wives and 101 children wants polygamy and sexual misconduct charges dropped. Winston Kaye Blackmore claims British Columbia's Attorney General cherry-picked a third special prosecutor after two previous prosecutors declined to prosecute him.
Blackmore lives in the small British Columbia community of Bountiful, just north of the Idaho border. He claims the first special prosecutor's decision was final under provincial law, and can be appealed only by a law enforcement officer, which did not happen.
The British Columbia government and police agencies have agonized over the polygamist community for years. Several legal scholars claim that Canada's laws against polygamy may conflict with religious freedom guarantees in the country's constitution.
Blackmore is represented by Joseph Arvay.
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