Today in the B.C. Supreme Court, lawyers for the Attorney General of B.C. won their appeal to have evidence entered into the record of the Polygamy Reference concerning the trafficking of young girls from Bountiful to the United States.
In her latest account, Tiffany Crawford of the Vancouver Sun confirms that the RCMP is investigating 8 cases of such activity (the penalty for which can be up to ten years imprisonment for the traffickers). She writes:
The RCMP has launched a new criminal investigation and is preparing to visit Bountiful following disturbing new evidence that eight young teenage girls, some as young as 12, from the polygamist community near Creston were taken to the U.S. to marry older men.
"Obviously we can't discuss what we are doing in the context of the investigation but eventually we will have to attend [Bountiful.] But as it stands we are not there right now," RCMP Cpl. Annie Linteau said on Friday.
Linteau, a spokeswoman for the RCMP, said investigators received the evidence last week and confirmed they have launched a criminal investigation.
"We're aware of the affidavits filed by the attorney-general's office," she said. "We initiated an investigation into those allegations and the investigation is ongoing."
Linteau could not say what charges the RCMP might look at in this new investigation.
On Friday, Attorney-General Barry Penner said the polygamy case was one of his top priorities.
No comments:
Post a Comment