VICTORIA - No charges will be laid against members of a British Columbia polygamist community, but the province may determine the validity of the law against multiple marriages by referring it to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
Attorney General Wally Oppal has reviewed a report by special prosecutor Richard Peck and agrees no charges should proceed against members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C.
He said the Crown could find no witnesses on the sexual assault allegations because so-called complainants told investigators they all consented to the acts that took place.
Oppal says more serious allegations of sexual exploitation of young women also could not be substantiated.
He says he's surprised by the number of young women who told the police that they were the aggressors and wanted to have sex with the older men.
But Oppal says Peck has recommended referring the case to the Court of Appeal to determine once and for all the validity of the polygamy law.
The B.C. Liberal attorney general says it is an issue that relates to the equality of women and that he personally believes the law against multiple marriages is valid.
