NEPHI -- Thomas A. Green said he was nervous as he prepared to enter 4th District Court to face charges related to his self-professed polygamous lifestyle. But he said the charges against him are false and politically motivated.
He will get a chance to respond to the charges at 1 p.m. May 25 before Judge Lynn W. Davis during a preliminary hearing on one count of rape of a child, a first-degree felony; four counts of bigamy; and one count of criminal nonsupport, third-degree felonies. His attorney has requested a hearing on a motion to separate the rape charge from the others for the purpose of the preliminary hearing. A hearing on the motion is set for May 18.Green maintained that he is the victim because he is being targeted by the prosecution. He would not comment on the specifics of the charges.
"I don't think any of them (the charges) will stick," Green said. "Nothing is going to be better off because of this. All that will happen is that a lot of families will be harmed."
Green's five wives were with him along with some of his 29 children. The wives said they absolutely will not testify against Green if subpoenaed.
"There are no victims here; there is no crime here," said Linda Green, one of the wives. "Our children do not deserve to lose their father."
Green once again publicly noted that he is living a polygamous lifestyle, saying he is being targeted simply because his religious beliefs have prompted him to create a family with more than one wife.
It is Green's own words that are the main evidence that prosecutors will use to try to show he violated Utah's bigamy law.
Green has not been shy in recent years about his polygamous lifestyle, even appearing on NBC's "Dateline" to discuss life in Utah's West Desert with his wives and children.
That television appearance was the first time Juab County Attorney David Leavitt had heard of Green. After further investigation, including meetings with Green and trips to his trailer community called Greenhaven, about 100 miles west of Delta, Leavitt decided he had plenty of evidence and an obligation to prosecute the 51-year-old magazine salesman.
"To me it's undisputed that polygamy is illegal in Utah and it is not a victimless crime," Leavitt said.
Leavitt considers Green's wives victims and did not charge them. However, he does plan to subpoena them to testify.
"If they elect not to testify, then I guess they'll face the consequences of that," Leavitt said.
At Green's preliminary hearing, where Leavitt will present for the first time his case against Green, Leavitt must simply show there is probable cause that Green committed the crimes in order to have the charges bound over for trial.
While many will be watching Green's case closely and consider it a test of the state's bigamy law, the rape of a child charge is a much more serious offense and carries a mandatory prison sentence on conviction. Green is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1986. Leavitt will not say if the girl later became one of Green's wives.
"That charge is much more concerning to me," Leavitt said.
Green previously championed his battle against the bigamy law and essentially invited a courtroom challenge to what he calls a religious right. Since the rape charge was filed, however, Green has avoided the spotlight and let his attorney do most of the talking.
The child rape charge is also a reason many pro-polygamy groups have decided to watch Green's case from the sidelines.
"That is something we don't condone," said Sydney Anderson, acting director of the Women's Religious Liberties Union, a pro-polygamy group.
The criminal nonsupport charge relates to about $58,000 in back child support the state says Green owes his wives. Last year Green stipulated that he owes the money to settle five lawsuits filed against him by the Office of Recovery Services. Green is not married to any of the women he calls his wives. Allegedly, shortly after he marries them, he divorces them but continues to cohabitate with them. The unmarried status of the women allows them to qualify for government assistance.
"Technically, I'm single and available," Green joked at a news conference last year.
Green is reportedly only the fourth Utah polygamist prosecuted under the state's bigamy law in the past four decades. Many prosecutors and attorneys believe the law is unconstitutional because of the inconsistent and vague use of the term "cohabitant" in the state code book.
Green remains free on a $130,000 property bond.
You can reach Jim Rayburn by e-mail at jimr@desnews.com