OREM — J.P. "Chief" Lilly leads a ragtag group of men and women who can be a child's dream and a child abuser's nightmare.
"If I have to walk into somebody's house and take their child out (to safety), I will," he said Wednesday night at Utah Valley State College.
Lilly, who founded the controversial Bikers Against Child Abuse, received UVSC's Excellence in Ethics Award and a standing ovation from the audience, which included a dozen leather-and-chains clad bikers.
While the 48-year-old therapist and part-time Brigham Young University professor did not say whether he ever engaged in violence to protect a child, he mentioned times when bikers have threatened alleged perpetrators or pushed them to the ground.
"We're not concerned (with) what is the legal thing to do," he said. "We're concerned (with) what is the right thing to do."
Lilly was born and raised in Southern California. He spent some summers with his grandfather on a Laguna Pueblo reservation in New Mexico, where he learned values of his heritage and a work ethic.
"We raised corn, chile, melons," Lilly said, tearing up and explaining his soft spot for family that fuels the anger he feels towards child abusers.
Lilly, who has tattoos on each of his arms, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received undergraduate and master's degrees in social work and marriage and family therapy from BYU. He married and had seven children.
He practices social work at Sierra Counseling in Provo and has become an expert in play therapy for children, serving as president of a board for a national organization in the field.
He began BACA in the mid-1990s out of concern for children, he says, and had to politic with bikers from outlaw gangs with names such as "Bandido George" and "Smitty" to receive permission to ride through their territory and wear a BACA insignia.
He says he's won respect and support from the four largest biker gangs in the United States: the Bandidos, the Hells Angels, the Pagans and the Outlaws.
But Lilly also proudly talks about his friends on the opposite spectrum — contacts at the White House, which included a meeting with first lady Laura Bush for which he received unique permission to wear his Baca gear rather than the traditional tie and jacket. He also displayed a picture of himself with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com