DELTA, Juab County — Welcome to Greenhaven.
Deep in Utah's West Desert, a ragtag group of trailers is home to one man, five women and 25 children who live as a family.
Mostly, they are like any other rural family, only much larger.
Boys clad in blue jeans and girls in modest floral print dresses scamper amid the sagebrush, picking wildflowers for their parents.
Some are redheads. Others are blond. All sport shining smiles.
In the kitchen, drawings decorate all three refrigerators.
A mother with long brown hair combs the hair of a towheaded boy while another mom, dressed in a pink maternity gown, finishes a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs and coffee.
Outside, near a wall of old tires and several junk cars, Tom Green and his two teenage sons try to pull the transmission out of a minivan. They need the transmission to fix another van that is broken down in Salt Lake City.
The family stays busy, trying to forget their fort of trailers has become ground zero in a battle over polygamy, a practice that was once embraced — and then denounced in 1890 — by Utah's dominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Polygamy was outlawed by Utah's Constitution in 1896 at the insistence of the federal government.
Linda Kunz, Shirley Beagley, LeeAnn Beagley, Carrie Bjorkman and Hannah Bjorkman have professed their love and devotion to Green, a man they call their "spiritual husband." And splashed across TV screens and in publications worldwide, Green has professed his "marriage" to these five women. In all, he has 29 children.
The women worry their husband, who is to stand trial Monday in 4th District Court on charges of bigamy and criminal nonsupport, may be found guilty and sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison. With the sole provider of the family in jail, his wives fear Utah officials would split up the family and take their children into state custody.
Green, arguably Utah's most outspoken polygamist, said he is prepared to go to prison for what he believes is a religious practice. But if Green is found guilty, five women with one operating vehicle must find a way to support 25 children. The family's allotment of state assistance has already been used. "We feel that we're good parents. We do our best to take care of our kids," said LeeAnn Beagley. "Then we hear that investigators and others are asking, 'Well, do they take care of their kids? Do they feed their kids?' You know, all that stuff. That scares us."
Sitting at the kitchen table, occasionally getting hugs from scampering kids, the women prepare for the worst.
LeeAnn Beagley, keeping an eye on a bunch of children, occasionally raps on the glass and gives a stern look. "We talked about it, and even if Tom is gone, we're going to stick together. We're in it for the long haul," she said. "We've worked years building this family for what it is."
"We're just as committed to each other as we are to Tom," said head wife Linda Kunz. "And if they take Tom away, that will be taking a big part of our family, but we're not going to leave each other."
To put food on the table, the women plan to operate a budding telemarketing operation and sell magazine subscriptions.
"All of us are fighting depression every day, and we have to try really hard not to think about it or we can't go on with our daily lives," Kunz said.
The children are also scared, Kunz said. They don't want their dad to be jailed.
"One of our daughters wrote a letter and left it on one of the mother's beds," Kunz said. "She said she didn't want to lose her father and her mothers, and she was scared."
In addition to fighting criminal charges stemming from the polygamist marriage, Green's family has hit hard times and tragedy over the past four years.
Green said he used to make $50,000 a year selling magazines and was able to provide his family a comfortable living.
Then his family was evicted from their Sandy trailer park because of the condition of their trailers and pressure from neighbors. Because they were not able to find a city that would have them, they settled in Juab County's desert.
Four years ago, the family's main trailer burned and a 3-year-old son was killed in the blaze. The boy was buried behind the trailers. Remnants of the fire linger in a twisted pile of rusted metal bed frames and a demolished piano.
Later, their second home was blown down by high winds. Since then, the family has relied on state assistance — such as food stamps — to subsist. Green says his salary has dropped by half, mainly because he is so busy working with his attorney on his defense. Prosecutors accuse Green of abusing the state's welfare system and not supporting his family. The family has so many children that Green has organized the kids into "teams" in which children are grouped according to age. The "A Team" is made up of the oldest children. The "E team" is the youngest — so far. "Next year we're expecting the 'F Team,'" Green said.
Three of Green's wives are now pregnant. He said he planned the births of his children in groups. That way, he said, they have children their own age to grow up and play with.
But Juab County Attorney David Leavitt has charged Green with criminal nonsupport, accusing him of not providing for his children. During a preliminary hearing last June, Green's attorney, John Bucher, defended the family, saying the children were "fat," "happy," and "well fed," according to court records.
"If they are fat, it's because they're eating off of the state's income," responded Leavitt, in court records.
Both attorneys are still under court order not to talk about the case.
State child welfare officials say they would not take Green's children away because the family has embraced polygamy.
"We see polygamy as a culture and religious belief, and we don't infringe upon religious beliefs," said Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services. "But what we are concerned about is if they cross the line when it comes to the safety of children."
Abel Ortiz, a child welfare attorney for the Division of Child and Family Services, said polygamist families are typically afraid to seek the state's help with welfare issues because they fear prosecution.
"We don't go out and remove kids simply because parents are alleged or have been involved in polygamy," Ortiz said.
Green and his wives don't trust the assurance.
To prepare for a possible incarceration, Green invited a state child welfare case worker to evaluate their home.
"We wanted to see where we were deficient and fix it," Green said.
Vicky Prunty, director of the anti-polygamy group Tapestry Against Polygamy, said she does not question that Green's wives are capable mothers. Prunty is a former polygamous wife.
"I really don't see child protective services as being the big bad wolf. I think they will be very fair with them," Prunty said.
She said her organization has received no complaints of child abuse in the family.
Prunty said the wives pretty much run the family without him anyway. Green is often in Nevada selling magazine subscriptions. "There's not going to be a whole lot of difference since they are already fairly independent women," she said. "They've been doing it all along by themselves." As far as financial help, Prunty predicts there will be those in religious fundamentalist circles who will come to their aid.
Green's wives said they plan to remain devoted to him and each other. Many of these women are in their early 20s and were married when they were 14 or 15. Green's marriage to Kunz when she was only 13 has prompted state authorities to file a child rape charge against Green.
"The only thing he's guilty of is building a family and having women that want to be with him," said Shirley Beagley. "If people say, 'Hang the guy . . . then they might as well hang us all." The women said it was their decision to go on national television and show the world what their lifestyle is about. Some of the women said they regret being so open — but others said they want people to understand them.
"We wanted to try really hard to be a part of the community and show people that polygamists are just normal people. That we're not the people who just stay to ourselves and avoid everyone else," Kunz said.
LeeAnn said all of the exposure is like living as a "zoo exhibit."
Green's wives said they are sick of being seen as victims of a "lecherous old man" who preyed on them as young innocents.
"We're not 'poor' women," said Shirley Beagley.
Green said he feels lucky that such beautiful, young women would choose to be with him. Many of them said that marriage goes beyond just sexual attraction.
"I don't know, I think he's kind of cute," quipped Hannah Bjorkman.
But when asked why they remain married to him the opinion was unanimous: "We love him," they said, in chorus.
Carrie Bjorkman said she will wait for Green because she respects what he is trying to do for her family and other polygamists.
"If we get through all of this and Tom comes home from prison — if he goes — and the laws get overturned then it would be all worth it."
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com