“Latter-day Saints” and “Mormon” are no longer to be used by the polygamous community of Bountiful to describe itself, following a ban issued Monday by the B.C. Supreme Court.
According to an Associated Press report, the group run by Winston Blackmore is prohibited from using those, “any other name that creates confusion” or the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, the official name of the Utah-based church.
Bountiful is located south of Creston, just north of the Idaho border, and it’s members follow a fundamentalist form of Mormonism that allows polygamy, which the mainstream church banned in 1890.
Blackmore was charged in August with practicing polygamy — the indictment alleges he has 24 wives — and is scheduled to appear on Jan. 29 in Creston Law Courts, when he and three others will decide whether they wants a trial by judge or jury.
He will be joined in court by James Oler, also charged with polygamy, and Brandon and Emily (Crossfield) Blackmore, charged with unlawfully removing a child under 16 from Canada with the intent that an offence of a sexual nature would be committed outside of Canada.
Winston and Emily previously appeared in court Dec. 4 to say they had retained counsel. Oler, whose faction is said to keep close ties with the followers of Warren Jeffs in the U.S., sent a similar message through Crown counsel. They initially appeared Oct. 9 without counsel.
