James Oler | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Marion Oler 4 June 1964 British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Bishop |
| Known for | Practicing polygamy |
| Children | 13 |
James Marion Oler (born 1964) is the bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) in Canada and has been convicted of being a practicing polygamist. [1] [2] The polygamy case brought against Oler is considered[ by whom? ] "the first major test of Canada's polygamy law." [3] As of 2014, he is reported to have 13 children. [4]
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2012) |
James Oler is the current bishop of the Canadian FLDS, who are centered in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. [5] In 2002, Winston Blackmore was excommunicated from the FLDS, and the community of Bountiful, where most members live, divided between Blackmore and Warren Jeffs. [2] Following this schism, Jeffs appointed Oler as the new bishop. [6]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2012) |
Oler and Blackmore were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in January 2009 and charged with polygamy. [7] The charges were later thrown out owing to questions about how the Crown selected its prosecutors. [7] On 23 September 2009, criminal polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore and Oler are thrown out by B.C. Supreme Court Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein. [8]
Polygamy charges were brought against Blackmore and Oler again in August 2014 without the procedural errors that caused the previous charges to have been thrown out of court. [9]
On 24 July 2017, James Oler was found guilty of polygamy in the B.C. Supreme Court. [10] He, along with Winston Blackmore, face up to five years in prison for violation of Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada. [11]
On 15 May 2018, in Cranbrook, British Columbia, special prosecutor Peter Wilson recommended a jail sentence of one month to 90 days for Oler and a term between 90 days and six months for Blackmore. [12] On 27 June 2018, Justice Sheri Ann Donegan sentenced Blackmore to six months' house arrest. Oler was sentenced to three months' house arrest. [13]
In May 2019, Oler was found guilty of taking a 15-year-old girl to the USA in 2004 to be married to an older man (a member of the FLDS Church), with Justice Martha Devlin saying there was "no room for doubt" that Oler knew the underage girl would be subject to sexual contact. [14] In August 2019, Oler was sentenced to 12 months in jail and 18 months probation. [15]
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a religious sect of the fundamentalist Mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy. It is variously defined as a cult, a sect, or a new religious movement. The organization has been involved in various illegal activities, including child marriages, child abandonment, sexual assault, and human trafficking including child sexual abuse. The sect is not connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest Latter-day Saint denomination.
Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, the first three presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by the movement's founder, Smith. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.
Warren Steed Jeffs is an American cult leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault following two convictions in 2011. He is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous cult based in Arizona. The FLDS Church was founded in the early-20th century when its founders deemed the renunciation of polygamy by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be apostate. The LDS Church disavows any relation between it and the FLDS Church, although there are significant historical ties.
The Latter Day Church of Christ (LDCC) or Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS) is a Mormon fundamentalist denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement. The DCCS was established in 1935 by Elden Kingston, son of Charles W. Kingston, and in 1977 members of the DCCS organized the Latter Day Church of Christ. Media outlets often refer to the organization as the Kingston Group, and internally it is known as "the Order" or "the Co-op".
The Parliament of Canada has exclusive legislative authority over marriage and divorce in Canada under section 91(26) of the Constitution Act, 1867. However, section 92(12) of the Constitution Act, 1867 gives the provincial legislatures the power to pass laws regulating the solemnization of marriage.
Bountiful is a settlement in the Creston Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, near Cranbrook and Creston. The closest community is Lister, British Columbia.
The Yearning for Zion Ranch, or the YFZ Ranch, was a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property.
Carolyn Jessop is an American author and former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community. She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children. Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Specifically, polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife while polyandry is the practice of one woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is a common marriage pattern in some parts of the world. In North America, polygamy has not been a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the continent's colonization by Europeans.
Winston Blackmore is the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint religious group in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. He is described as "Canada's best-known avowed polygamist". He has 150 children with his 27 "spiritual" wives, some of whom he has admitted were underage.
Blair Suffredine is a Canadian politician. He served as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the riding of Nelson-Creston from 2001 until his defeat in the 2005 provincial election.
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada are well documented dating back to the 1960s. The preponderance of criminal cases with Canadian Catholic dioceses named as defendants that have surfaced since the 1980s strongly indicate that these cases were far more widespread than previously believed. While recent media reports have centred on Newfoundland dioceses, there have been reported cases—tested in court with criminal convictions—in almost all Canadian provinces. Sexual assault is the act of an individual touching another individual sexually and/or committing sexual activities forcefully and/or without the other person's consent. The phrase Catholic sexual abuse cases refers to acts of sexual abuse, typically child sexual abuse, by members of authority in the Catholic church, such as priests. Such cases have been occurring sporadically since the 11th century in Catholic churches around the world. This article summarizes some of the most notable Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canadian provinces.
Richard C.C. Peck, is a British Columbia lawyer who has been counsel in many significant criminal cases at all judicial levels including the Supreme Court of Canada and has been appointed by provincial governments to serve as a special prosecutor.
Wendell Loy Nielsen was the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, replacing Warren Jeffs, at that time imprisoned on charges related to sexual assaults against minors.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs is an autobiography by American author Elissa Wall detailing her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and subsequent later life outside of the church. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Kingdom of God is a Mormon fundamentalist church in the Latter Day Saint movement. The sect was founded by Frank Naylor and Ivan Nielsen, who split from the Centennial Park group, another fundamentalist church over issues with another prominent polygamous family. The church is estimated to have 200–300 members, most of whom reside in the Salt Lake Valley. The group is also known as the Neilsen Naylor Group.
Lyle Jeffs is the brother of Warren Jeffs and a bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church. He has been referred to as his brother's "special counselor" in some church documents.
The Darger family is an independent fundamentalist Mormon polygamous family living in Utah, United States. They went public after years of being secretive about their polygamous lifestyle to promote the decriminalization of polygamy in the United States as well as to help reshape the perception of polygamy following the prosecution of Warren Jeffs. In 2013, the Darger family met with Utah legislators in an effort to persuade them to change the laws against polygamy in the state.
The Church of Jesus Christ Inc. is a Mormon fundamentalist denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, and is also known as the Blackmore Group. There are approximately 700 members of this group.
Two former religious leaders in B.C. have been found guilty of polygamy after marrying more than two dozen women over the course of 25 years.
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