"Crimes against children cannot be tolerated," Rep. Jim Matheson said in a statement Wednesday. "I would support additional federal assistance to help prosecute these crimes."
The state's lone Democrat in Congress was responding to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's call a day earlier for a federal task force to investigate polygamist activity in the West.
The Justice Department said Wednesday it is reviewing a letter from Reid to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to appoint a team to probe, and prosecute, if necessary, accusations of "systemic child abuse" in "this modern day polygamy movement."
"For too long, this outrageous activity has been masked in the guise of religious freedom," wrote Nevada's Reid, who is LDS. "But child abuse and human servitude have nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated. Individuals who force minors into adult relationships and marriage must be brought to justice."
Matheson's district includes the polygamist enclave of Hildale, which, along with Colorado City, Ariz., is the base for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was captured late last month after being among the FBI's most wanted list on charges of being an accomplice to rape in arranging marriages of young girls to adult members of the church.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said polygamy "is against the law," and prosecuting it is largely the job of local and state law enforcement.
"But the federal government should definitely back them up, especially when these activities cross state lines," Hatch said in a statement, adding, "As for an investigation, any attention to this issue is helpful, that's for sure."
GOP Rep. Chris Cannon's spokesman Charles Isom said his boss has "full faith in" the states' abilities to prosecute polygamy.
"Congressman Cannon has every confidence that the attorney generals in the Western states, working with law enforcement, are well-qualified to take on this issue," Isom said.
The offices of Rep. Rob Bishop and Sen. Bob Bennett did not answer a request Wednesday for comment on Reid's letter.
The anti-polygamy group Tapestry Against Polygamy praised Reid's call for an investigation, saying "it's about time this has happened."
These "civil rights violations have gone on for over 50 years and finally an outsider is coming in and has to do our housecleaning for us," said Vicki Prunty, executive director of the group. "That should be an embarrassment to the state of Utah and Arizona, but we need this to happen and if we couldn't do it ourselves, let someone else take the initiative to get the job done."
Prunty, a former polygamist wife, added that polygamy is not just a Utah problem and the federal government and states are going to have to work together to address the problems.
"Some of that's already happening," Utah's chief deputy attorney general, Kirk Torgensen, said of Reid's call for more federal assistance.
"We have had several meetings with our federal counterparts on several issues. I hate it to sound like this is some new idea and we haven't been working collectively on things, because we really have."
Torgensen, though, says he welcomes more federal involvement, especially if the Internal Revenue Service could provide help in investigating purported tax fraud in polygamist havens.
"It's ripe for someone to give a serious look," he said.
tburr@sltrib.com
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รค ROBERT GEHRKE contributed to this story.
On spiritual marriages of young girls:
"For too long, this outrageous activity
has been masked in the guise of
religious freedom."
HARRY REID
Nevada Democrat and LDS member
