By Nate Carlisle
Salt Lake Tribune
April 11, 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_8887283
Dale Evans Barlow, the man who remains at the heart of the FLDS ranch raid in Texas, was defended by the polygamous community as a victim of religious intolerance when he was convicted of a similar crime last year.
A Texas judge signed an arrest warrant for Barlow last Thursday after a 16-year-old girl accused him of marrying and impregnating her. Barlow, 50, is on probation in Arizona for a conviction stemming from his marriage to a different 16-year-old girl, with whom he has a son.
While he denies knowing his Texas accuser - and others have said he is not the girl's husband - police said at a news conference Thursday that he remains their suspect.
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| Dale Evans Barlow |
In letters to an Arizona judge before Barlow's sentencing in August, FLDS members argued he had committed no crime in marrying the Arizona girl and compared him to persecuted religious figures.
"He is only trying to live . . . his religion," wrote Heber Barlow, one of about 30 people who sent letters to the Mohave County court. "There are no victims and there is no crime."
According to a presentence investigation, Barlow is a journeyman plumber with three wives and 22 children. The victim in the sex charges against him was his third wife, who told investigators she entered the marriage of "my own free will," was happy with the marriage and did not believe a crime was committed, according to the report.
It also said Barlow referred to their union as a celestial marriage "to get back in to the Heaven of my God."
Barlow pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor; a second charge was dropped. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years on probation.
Arnold Jessop, who described himself as a friend of Barlow, wrote to the sentencing judge, "His marriage to [the teenager] seemed to me very natural and proper."
Jessop argued the Bible says God allowed Abraham to have multiple wives, and referred to past prophets in the mainstream Mormon church and the polygamous sect.
"Maybe our legislators have cunningly laid a snare to catch the innocent just because they believe in an unpopular religion," Jessop continued. "So it was on the days of Jesus Christ. So it was in the days of Joseph Smith. So it was in the Days of Warren Jeffs."
Jeffs, the sect's leader, has been convicted of rape as an accomplice in Utah and is jailed awaiting trial on similar charges in Arizona.
One of Barlow's brothers, Anthony Barlow, made a modern comparison.
"Why should a man be thrown into prison for living his religion while society will forgive the former president of the United States of immoral acts while in the office of President?" the brother wrote.
At a Texas news conference Thursday, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said Barlow "is still a suspect," adding, "we are working on that [part of the investigation] right now."
The Texas teen also has not been located.
Barlow's Arizona probation officers have said he denies knowing the Texas girl and has been checking in regularly with them, as required.
Sect critics familiar with the 16-year-old Texas girl contend she is not married to Barlow, but to a different man with the same surname. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name alleged sexual abuse victims.
Asked if police have the wrong man and will request an arrest warrant for another man, Capt. Barry Caver of the Texas Rangers said Thursday: "Until we find her, sit her down and take a complete statement, we have no way of knowing that."
In the letters filed in Mohave County, one of Barlow's daughters, then 18-year-old Salena Barlow, said her father treated every child like his favorite.
"My mothers are happy and cheerful and wouldn't want to be separated," she wrote. "Though our family is large, I could not imagine having our family broken up and separated. I truly love every member of our family."
Contact: ncarlisle@sltrib.com
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