Jail for man with five wives.Byline: HUGH DOUGHERTYA POLYGAMIST po·lyg·a·mist n. One who practices polygamy. Noun 1. polygamist - someone who is married to two or more people at the same time polyandrist - a woman with two or more husbands who has five wives and 30 children and claims to be an "original Mormon" was yesterday jailed for five years. Tom Green, a 52-year-old former Mormon missionary, was jailed in Provo, Utah, three months after being found guilty of four counts of bigamy bigamy (bĭ`gəmē), crime of marrying during the continuance of a lawful marriage. Bigamy is not committed if a prior marriage has been terminated by a divorce or a decree of nullity of marriage. and one of fraudulently claiming welfare payments. Green had become America's best-known polygamist, going on talk shows including Jerry Springer to claim he was following the original beliefs of the Mormon religion. He had claimed his conviction was "persecution" of his religious beliefs but Judge Guy Burningham sentenced him to five years in jail for each count, to run concurrently, and ordered him to pay back pounds 54,060 he had claimed in welfare. Green, whose latest child was born earlier this month, is to appeal against the order to pay back the cash but his defence lawyer gave no indication that he would attempt to overturn the verdict. He still faces another trial, on charges of raping his 13-year-old wife Linda Kunz when he married her in 1986. Green had claimed throughout his week-long trial in May that he was following the true beliefs of the Mormon church's founder, Brigham Young. The Church of Jesus Christ Church of Jesus Christ may refer to:
polygamy Marriage to more than one spouse at a time. Although the term may also refer to polyandry (marriage to more than one man), it is often used as a synonym for polygyny (marriage to more than one woman), which appears in the 1890s. |
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