Tom Green (polygamist)

Thomas Arthur ("Tom") Green is a Mormon fundamentalist in Utah who is a practitioner of plural marriage. After a high profile trial, Green was convicted by the state of Utah on May 18, 2001 of four counts of bigamy and one count of failure to pay child support. This decision was upheld by the Utah State supreme court in 2004.State v. Green, September 3, 2004, [http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/greeni090304.htm accessed March 22, 2006] ] __NOTOC__

Religion

Green was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). In the 1980s, while in his thirties, Green left the LDS Church and converted to a type of Mormon fundamentalism which teaches that its adherents should practice plural marriage."Utah polygamist found guilty," May 19, 2001, CNN, [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/05/19/utah.polygamy/index.html accessed March 22, 2007] ] He was to eventually take five wives.

Trial and conviction

The prosecution, led by Juab County Attorney David Leavitt, [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/11/16/48hours/main70628.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/24/national/main513227.shtml ] alleged that Green married teenagers, divorced them, and then collected the welfare payments they received as "single mothers" while he continued living with them. Described as "Utah's first high-profile bigamy case in half a century," [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/05/19/utah.polygamy/index.html CNN.com - Utah polygamist found guilty - May 19, 2001 ] ] Green's trial attracted substantial national attention [ [http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c04a39628b88f010VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f5f411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD LDS Newsroom - Tom Green, Polygamist coverage ] ] [ [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week205/cover.html Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . COVER STORY . Polygamy . October 2, 1998 | PBS ] ] [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/28/national/main520012.shtml Polygamist Will Appeal, Judge Gave Him Lightest Possible Sentence, Citing Wife's Support - CBS News ] ] and some international media coverage. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1329977.stm BBC News | AMERICAS | Polygamy on trial in Utah ] ]

On June 24 2002, Green was convicted of child rape for having sex with 13 year old Linda Kunz, who is now his legal wife. Kunz, who refused to testify against Green at the trial, was born in 1973 and gave birth to her first child with Green in 1986. Green had four other "wives" and 33 children in all. Tom Green was sentenced to five years in prison for the first conviction, and five years to life in prison for the second conviction. Green was released from prison on parole on August 7, 2007.CNN News, [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/07/polygamist.ap/index.html "Utah polygamist released from prison on parole after serving 6 years,"] August 7 2007 (accessed 2007-08-08).]

Documentary film

Green and his lifestyle was the subject of the British-made documentary "One Man, Six Wives and Twenty-Nine Children" [ [http://www.dfgdocs.com/Directory/Titles/949.aspx One Man, Six Wives and Twenty-Nine Children in Directory on DFGDocs – The British Documentary Website ] ] which was released in 2000 at the New York International Documentary Film Festival. [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0022,atkinson,15280,20.html village voice > film > Based on a True Story by Michael Atkinson ] ]

ee also

*polygamy
*polygyny
*Short Creek raid

Notes

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week205/cover.html PBS Religion & Ethics: Polygamy] online companion to October 2, 1998 program
* [http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c04a39628b88f010VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f5f411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD Mormon reaction to media coverage of Thomas Green and his trial]