Sure, James Oler knew his 15-year-old daughter was going to be married in Nevada to a 24-year-old man, a Canadian judge said in his written verdict last week, but prosecutors can't show that Oler actually crossed the border with the girl.
A British Columbia court has published Judge Paul Pearlman's verdict. Pearlman presided over the trial of three polygamists from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who took their teenage daughters to marry in the United States.
Pearlman convicted husband and wife Brandon J. and Gail Blackmore of removing a child from Canada for sexual purposes, but he acquitted Oler, a former bishop of the FLDS enclave in Canada.
You can read the entire verdict online.
In explaining the verdicts, Pearlman used some of the 47 pages to recount the evidence, including some of the American former FLDS members who testified about the sect and what happened on the days in 2004 when the two marriages took place.
Later, Pearlman writes that even though the case against Brandon J. and, especially, Gail Blackmore is circumstantial, since no one saw them cross the border with their daughter, there's a lot of evidence suggesting they facilitated the girl's removal, knew she would be married and knew sex would follow.
There was less evidence that Oler crossed with his daughter, Pearlman wrote.
Even after acquitting Oler, Pearlman wrote that Oler knew what was going to happen to his daughter.
Brandon J. and Gail Blackmore are scheduled to be sentenced April 13 in Cranbrook, B.C.
Prosecutors in British Columbia will have another chance to convict Oler on April 10 when he and another former FLDS bishop, Winston Blackmore, go on trial for polygamy.
ncarlisle@sltrib.com
Twitter: @natecarlisle
James Oler, center, arrives at the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted the estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. He found Oler not guilty of the same charge. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Gail Blackmore, right, and James Oler arrive at the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. He found Oler not guilty of the same charge. (Jeff McIntosh
Brandon Blackmore arrives at the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lawyers enter the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted the estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. He found James Oler not guilty of the same charge. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Brandon Blackmore arrives at the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Supporters of Brandon Blackmore, Gail Blackmore and James Oler arrive at the courthouse in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. He found James Oler not guilty of the same charge. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
The courthouse is seen in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Two people linked to the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., could have foreseen that their actions would lead to a girl having sex with the church's prophet well before her 14th birthday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said as he convicted estranged husband and wife Brandon Blackmore and Gail Blackmore Friday. He found James Oler not guilty of the same charge. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
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