The lawyer representing a Millard County man charged with bigamy wants one thing to be certain:
"Mr. Bronson is not a polygamist," Wilford Hansen said from his Payson law office.His client, Steve T. Bronson, 57, on Thursday pleaded guilty to bigamy, a third-degree felony, before 4th District Judge Gary Stott in Fillmore. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed two class A misdemeanors for which Bronson also was charged.
"We are elated to see the state is doing something," said Carmen Thompson of Tapestry of Polygamy, a group of former polygamist wives that has supported the victim in the Bronson case.
It is rare for local prosecutors to file charges related to polygamy -- a practice with ties to Utah's early settlers and continues to linger among small, secretive sects. Advocates for what they call "refugees" from polygamy lauded the prosecution and Thursday's plea bargain as progress in the effort to stop the practice.
"It is important for those who want to live a polygamist lifestyle to know that we will not tolerate child brides or polygamy in this state any longer," Thompson said.
That tough talk is part of a noteworthy trend among lawmakers, county prosecutors, polygamous groups themselves and those who try to talk women back into the mainstream. They have all have spent months shoring up their positions and honing their strategies in a debate that doesn't show signs of dying down.
-- Tapestry of Polygamy, which formed in March, 1998, has asserted itself with lawmakers, prosecutors and the media.
Its members have pushed county attorneys throughout the state to prosecute polygamy as a crime itself.
The approach seems to be working. Thompson said Thursday another bigamy charge will soon be filed in Richfield.
-- But all the attention and effort has created division within Tapestry.
Laura Chapman, one of the early members of Tapestry, left the group over philosophical differences. "I had ethical concerns and I worried Tapestry was directing itself away from service and more toward political activities."
-- After an October meeting with the Apostolic United Brethren, based in Bluffdale, the Utah Attorney General's Office continues to try to get into polygamous communities to educate members about child abuse and domestic abuse laws and to break down barriers of secrecy.
-- Rep. David Zolman, R-Taylorsville, has plunged headfirst into the controversy by asking what he calls "the tough question" . . . suggesting to his lawmaking colleagues that the Legislature either repeal the state's constitutional prohibition against polygamy or rewrite state code.
But after meetings with polygamists and state officials, Zolman said this week he "won't do anything for at least a year in terms of preparing a bill or changing the code."
-- There is an effort in some parts of the polygamy community to lobby the Legislature to decriminalize polygamy, said Riverton resident John Llewellen who once was associated with the Apostolic United Brethren, and is the author of "Believer Beware" which details abuses in some polygamy groups.
"Most people realize the tides have changed," he said.
-- Under the spotlight of nearly a year of publicity, Utah polygamist groups are trying to figure out the best way to represent themselves.
Owen Allred, 85, who leads the 5,000-member Apostolic United Brethren, has stepped to the public relations plate, holding news conferences, denouncing abuses in polygamous communities and opening up his Bluffdale-based church to state officials.
In contrast, James Harmston, who heads 500 members of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days in Manti, is retreating.
The once informative "TLC" Church of Manti's Web page has been scaled back to a terse message: "The day has now arrived that God has shut the mouths of His servants and will begin to do His own work of rendering judgement and calamity upon the wicked and ungodly."
On Thursday, Hansen said Bronson's case has been unfairly characterized as a polygamy-issue case.
"He's a happily married man," Hansen confirmed. Bronson has one wife now, and Hansen wouldn't talk about accusations that the man had been married to up to five women at once.
"We disputed all the facts alleged by the prosecutor."
Millard County prosecutor Dexter Anderson charged Bronson with bigamy, alleging the Hinckley man was married to five women at one time.
One of the women, who has left Bronson, told prosecutors she was 16 years old -- 27 years younger than her former husband -- when they married 14 years ago. The couple had three children. Last year she sought a protective order, saying she was physically and verbally abused.
The bigamy charge, a third-degree felony, was filed along with charges of contempt of court and violation of a protective order, class A misdemeanors.
Prosecutors allowed Bronson to enter his plea in abeyance, which allows for the charge to be dismissed if he completes his one-year probation.
Probation conditions include a $500 fine and abiding by the restraining order and visitation terms and conditions issued in a civil custody battle with the woman for whom the bigamy charge was filed.
"He has to cohabitate only with his one lawfully wedded wife," Anderson said. "If he doesn't abide by the visitation order, or harasses the mother, then he's violating the plea agreement.
"If he violates his probation, he'll be back in court subject to be sent to prison."