Sect leader worries compound here could be raided
 
By Steve Miller
Rapid City Journal - Rapid City, South Dakota
 
The leader of the enclave near Pringle that reportedly houses a polygamous sect is worried that it could be raided like a polygamous compound in Texas was, according to Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler.

Wheeler said he talks regularly with Ed Johnson, a leader at the compound southwest of Pringle, which is one of several enclaves around the country occupied by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy. "He’s concerned about repercussions," Wheeler said of Johnson.

But Wheeler and South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long say authorities haven’t raided the Pringle compound because they haven’t received evidence of, or a complaint about, criminal activity.

Long said authorities must have probable cause in the form of evidence or a credible complaint before going in to search the compound.

"It would be no different than if we wanted to go in your house and look around," Long said in a phone interview. "We have to have probable cause and have it in such a form that we could take it to a judge and have him authorize a search warrant."

Wheeler said he has received no complaint about criminal activity at the Pringle compound.

The land for the compound was purchased by an FLDS leader close to Warren Jeffs, who has headed the church, headquartered in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accessory in Utah, and faces similar charges in Arizona.

Jeffs was a fugitive for several years and was suspected to have hidden for a time at the Pringle area compound.

Sheriff Wheeler said the buildings at the Pringle site are "exact replicas" of the ones at Eldorado.

Isaac Wyler of Colorado City, an ex-FLDS member, said he is certain the people in the Pringle compound are practicing polygamy and illegal, under-age marriages.

"Warren has received revelations from God that he’s supposed to be marrying these girls at young ages," Wyler said in an interview last fall. "He would have to have a completely new revelation for that to change."

In Texas, law enforcement authorities raided a large FLDS compound near Eldorado after receiving a phone call from a 16-year-old girl who claimed she had been raped and physically abused in the compound. The local law enforcement authorities also said they had an informant inside the compound.

However, authorities there have not been able to identify the girl.

Without a similar complaint or other evidence of possible criminal activity, South Dakota authorities cannot go into the Pringle compound uninvited, Long said.

Custer County officials say the compound complies to the letter with county building regulations and pays its taxes on time.

Attorney General Long likened the situation to someone calling authorities to complain about a poker game going on at someone’s home.

"I’m going to say, ‘How do you know that? What evidence do you have? Were you looking in the window?’"

But Long said sometimes a witness has direct evidence of illegal activity. "There’s a world of difference between the woman who comes in and says, ‘My husband was at that poker game’ and some guy who says, ‘I heard at the bar down the street about the Friday night poker game.’"

The attorney general said the threshold to launch an investigation would be much less than that required for an arrest or a search.

But Long would not say whether state authorities are investigating the compound.

Long said he also was not surprised that the Texas authorities are now running into legal snags in their investigation.

Long said bigamy, being married to more than one person at the same time, is illegal in South Dakota. But South Dakota law does not recognize common law marriages so bigamy typically is proved with more than one marriage certificate. (Texas is one of several states that recognize common-law marriage.)

Ex-FLDS members say the men have only one "legal" wife, but then have subsequent "spiritual" marriages.

"That becomes significant because hypothetically, let’s say that we have a man who is living in the Pringle compound and he’s married legally to one woman but has been sneaking around and has impregnated a couple others," Long said. "That is certainly not unheard of outside the Pringle compound. That’s not criminal conduct, assuming that this man has had sex with consenting women over the age of 16," he said.

Long noted that the legal age of consent for sex in South Dakota is 16, as it is in Texas. The age of consent varies from state to state."

"If a man is having sex with a female or a male under the age of 16, even if that sexual relationship is voluntary, that’s a crime, under state law, irrespective of marital relationship," Long said. "In fact, if they are related parties, it might also be incest."

But, he said, those are difficult cases to prove. "You’ve got to have decent quality of evidence. It’s not simply that they are living in the same house together."

Texas authorities have removed more than 400 children and scores of parents from the Eldorado compound, which sits on a 1,700-acre ranch.

The Pringle compound is much smaller, with five lodges and a number of other buildings sitting on 140 acres in rough country in southwestern Custer County.

Sheriff Wheeler has estimated the compound could hold 75 to 100 people.

Another allegation raised about FLDS communities elsewhere has been that "spiritual" wives have drawn state welfare benefits.

But that is not happening at the Pringle compound, according to Emily Currey, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota Department of Social Services.

"The folks in the Pringle compound do not receive any benefits or assistance from the Department of Social Services," Currey said this week.

Currey said she did not know how many children are living in the compound.

Six children at the compound are registered with the Custer School District for home schooling, district officials said.

The Journal has been unable to contact members of the Pringle compound, by phone or at the site.

Wheeler said county residents have expressed frustration over the presence of the compound, but people who live near the compound say the members are good neighbors other than for construction noise, which sometimes goes into the night.

Wheeler said he visits the compound regularly and stays in communication with the group’s leaders.

"My concern is that we might have to deal with a situation similar to (Texas) down there," Wheeler said. "That’s why I’m trying to keep that door open."

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com.
 
RapidCityJournal.com
Originally published Saturday, April 19, 2008
 
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