{UAH} Polygamist with 149 children and 24 wives sentenced to six months house arrest after being found guilty

Polygamist with 149 children and 24 wives sentenced to six months house arrest after being found guilty

Nine of former religious leader Winston Blackmore's wives were under the age of 18, and four were 15 when he wed them

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Danya Hajjaji

Amber Hicks

• 12:58, 27 JUN 2018

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Winston Blackmore said outside court: "I'm guilty of living my religion and that's all I'm saying today because I've never denied that" (Image: CBC)

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A man with 24 wives and 149 children found guilty of polygamy has been sentenced to six months house arrest.

Nine of Winston Blackmore's wives were under the age of 18, and four were 15 when he wed them, according to the Edmonton Sun .

There were tears in the packed courtroom as relatives embraced each other as the former religious leader's sentence was read out.

"I'm guilty of living my religion and that's all I'm saying today because I've never denied that," Blackmore said after the verdict, reports CBC News .

"Twenty seven years and tens of millions of dollars later, all we've proved is something we've never denied.

"I've never denied my faith. This is what we expected."

Winston Blackmore who was found guilty of polygamy(Image: REUTERS)

Winston Blackmore has fathered 149 children (Image: Handout)

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The 61-year-old was joined in court by James Oler, who was part of the same religious sect.

Oler was found guilty of polygamy by having five wives, one who was 15 and another who had turned 17 at the time of the marriages.

He's said to have fathered 13 children.

The 54-year-old was sentenced to three months house arrest in Alberta, with exceptions for work, medical emergencies and vital errands.

Judge Sheri Ann Donegan described the men as otherwise law-abiding citizens who practise polygamy because of religious beliefs.

James Oler leaves court after a judge found the former member of a breakaway religious sect guilty of practicing polygamy (Image: REUTERS)

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They are former bishops of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect within Bountiful, British Columbia.

Their sentences will be followed by 12 months probation, with 150 hours of community service for Blackmore and 75 hours for Oler, the CBC reported.

Blackmore married 24 women between 1990 and 2014, according to court documents. 

Oler wed five women between 1993 and 2009, according to court documents.

The sentencing marks Canada's first convictions for polygamy in more than a century.

Under Canadian law, the maximum penalty for polygamy is five years in jail.

Winston Blackmore fathered 149 children (Image: CBC)

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The men previously entered not guilty pleas, with Blackmore's defense counsel arguing that the polygamy law violated Bountiful community members' religious rights.

Under Canada's century-old polygamy law, the British Columbia government has been weighing prosecution since the early 1990s against members of the Bountiful community of 1,500 residents.

Despite multiple police investigations into claims of abuse in the community, it had declined to pursue polygamy charges because of concerns that doing so would violate constitutional freedom of religion.

In 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court affirmed that laws banning polygamy were constitutional and did not violate religious freedom.

The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned polygamy in 1890.

The church sued Blackmore in 2014 for using its trademarked name, citing damaged reputation.

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