Two men guilty of polygamy given conditional sentences

Combination image: Winston Blackmore, left, and James Oler arrive to hear the verdicts in their trial in Cranbrook, B.C., Monday, July 24, 2017. (Images by Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press)

CRANBROOK, B.C. -- Two men convicted of practising polygamy in British Columbia have been given conditional sentences to be served in the community.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge gave Winston Blackmore a six-month conditional sentence, followed by a year of probation.

He will be under house arrest, with allowances to go to work and attend to medical emergencies.

James Oler was handed a three-month conditional sentence to be served under house arrest, followed by 12 months of probation.

Blackmore was found guilty last July of having two dozen wives, while the court found Oler married five women.

Special prosecutor Peter Wilson recommended three to six months in jail for Blackmore and one to three months for Oler.

Blackmore has also been ordered to perform 150 hours of community work service, while Oler must do 75 hours.

Wilson told a judge at an earlier sentencing hearing that both men were motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs and are law-abiding, hard-working and honest.

The men have been leaders in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect that believes in plural marriage.

They have both been part of the small community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C.

Blackmore's lawyer had asked Justice Sheri Ann Donegan to consider all possible sentences in the case, including an absolute discharge.

The maximum sentence for polygamy under the Criminal Code is five years in prison.

There are only two other convictions for polygamy in Canadian history, but because those cases took place in 1899 and 1906, Wilson told the judge they didn't set a precedent in determining sentences for the men.