Bishop Found Guilty of Polygamy After Marrying 24 Women and Having 145 Children

A former Bishop has been found guilty of polygamy after he was found out to have married 24 women and fathered 145 kids.

Winston Blackmore

 

According to a Daily Star UK report, Winston Blackmore, a former religious leader has been found guilty of polygamy after marrying 24 women and fathering 146 children.

For decades Winston Blackmore along with James Oler ran a small, isolated group which practiced fathering multiple children.

The pair are former bishops and were found guilty by a British Columbia Supreme Court of one count of polygamy each.

Blackmore practiced a "kind of conjugal union" with 24 women between 1990 and 2014 – fathering at least 146 children.

Oler was charged after for polygamy involving five women between 1993 and 2009.

Under Canadian law the maximum penalty is five years behind bars.

Blackmore claimed he was living his religion and that it was important to him and his family, while Oler left without speaking to reporters.

Lawyers representing him said they would launch a legal challenge of the country's polygamy laws.

Under existing laws has prosecuted 1,500 residents of polygamy since the early 1900s.

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