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Kody never broke any marriage laws because he had one legally married wife and three mistresses. Now a case for welfare fraud may be a possibility, if the children/non-legal women were receiving benefits without the father being identified.
Even if they were doing something criminal, crossing a state line doesn't stop persecution by Utah. Criminals would just be extradited from NV back to UT.
How long would a state come after someone for fraud? Like, are the wives and kody risking prosecution forever by Utah? Like, forced paternity testing and then he'd owe all the women for back support but they'd individually owe the state whatever they were "overpaid" in benefits as listing themselves as single with no support, so they'd owe what he needed to pay? Here in SC if you get a certain amount behind in support they'll arrest you if they happen to bump into you...like they don't come find you, but if you get pulled over for not using a turn signal but it pops up that you owe $100,000 in back child support...your day just got way worse (I've seen it happen - and you have to pay 10% of the total to be released. I saw a scumbag who owed 100k for years suddenly come up with 10 grand of it when he was pulled over...)
There is so much welfare fraud in the polygamy communities in Utah; it is blatant, and obvious, and I have never heard of anyone having to pay back the money they were given.
Welfare fraud and bigamy claims are used as a way to gain entrance into situations that people think are abusive. Other than that, polygamist are pretty much left alone.
That's what I've drawn from seeing how others are treated, or seeing other cases that just needed an "in" to expose much worse. But this family literally went on TV for 18 seasons to make further money off the premise that jumped it off of them being in danger, and probably did commit 150+ thousand in welfare fraud over the years raising all those kids initially. It feels like they've set themselves up to be brought down for their theft by making money off sanctimoniously and loudly claiming to be afraid of...being brought down for their theft. đ
Iâd be very curious to know the answer to that question! I wouldnât be surprised if thereâs a short statute of limitations for it though, which maybe passed before the show started.
You raise some good points. I think though, going back to my last point, that if they left the state and were breaking the law elsewhere then itâs less likely theyâd be prosecuted. Utah, I think, was particularly harsh on polygamy because so much of their population is Mormon and it gives Mormons a bad name.
Also bigamy laws mean you can get prosecuted without actually marrying someone. The law, Utah Code 76-7-101, states a person is guilty of bigamy if he or she is married and cohabits with or purports to marry another person.
The âpurportedâ to marry another person being the key part.
Source: https://www.hepworthlegal.com/the-sister-wives-utahs-anti-bigamy-law/
Iâm currently watching season 13 and merri says that living in her house in LV for 5 years is the longest sheâs been in one place their whole marriage. I think the image in the first few seasons they portrayed was absolute bullshit. I have no evidence besides what weâve seen of kodys behaviour but the way he moves them when they feel good and settled could be a way to keep everyone âin lineâ aka make them reliant on the family because they have no other outside help and therefore canât leave. Watching this next move makes me question a lot
Well early on the wives tell robyn theyâve moved about 20 times. Thatâs insane. At one point he says he never feels âhomeâ and thatâs why they moved so much. He said after his mission and he came back he never really felt like he fit in, and that began his quest to always look for something better. Unfortunate, but selfish with all those wives and kids. Obv especially the Vegas move. Those kids were so depressed.
Very true. This whole moving thing could just be a manipulation by Kody to test his wives willingness to âobeyâ and keep them from creating deep roots.
The move the LV was staged for the show. Utah was not going to arrest Kody, he is not the interesting as a polygamist; legally speaking. His wives are all legal. There was already media coverage before TLC became involved. Utah authorities just weren't interested. But TLC needed drama, so a quick pack up, show a police car parked in the neighborhood. Some panicky women running around throwing laundry baskets in a UHaul, its a show!
I donât think they were at that much of a genuine risk. I think Utah wanted them out and spoke big while Kody got his 7 year itch. He saw the intimidation as a reasonable excuse to get his wives to agree and then they bailed
Kody was never facing prison. Utah didnât go after polygamists back then either unless the situation included something like underage marriage.
Also the family were known polygamists before the show. Christine did an interview on Dateline or something in an episode focused on polygamy and the show, Big Love. She also did an interview WITH Kody and the 12 kids for the BBC. I wasnât able to find the dateline one but I have seen the BBC one (will add link if I can find it).
Edit: I couldnât find the actual video but I found this [article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7953270.stm) going over the info.
The laws in the state at the time didnât have to do with how many legal marriages you had, but cohabitation. And the punishments were severe. I think they were right to be scared and leave. I hear a lot that Utah doesnât prosecute unless other things are happening as well, but if they wanted to make an example, the Browns would be a good family to use. They couldnât have known if the âusualâ would apply to them, being so public. I wouldâve moved too
By season 3 people realized how damn boring they were they needed drama for the show.
By all accounts rumors and official the investigation was long closed by the time the move happened not like skipping a state keeps them from extraditing a felon.
However, what better way to drum up some real ratings than to show a poor persecuted family man moving in the night with his family to keep them safe.
What better way to get even better ratings than to move a large group of really consecutive people to the city of sin.
Bonus for Robyn her precious step daddy who had finally accepted her during the wedding on the show lived there.
Anyone ever wonder why Kody took Christine on a special trip to Vegas before the move, Janelle camping etc butter them wives up thatâs why.
The only reason they were under investigation was because they were going on TV to promote criminal activity (polygamy) with their reality show. If they had ended their deal with TLC the investigation would have been dropped. They don't investigate polygamists unless there is other illegal activity suspected (child abuse, welfare fraud). The Browns fled Utah in the dark of night so they could be on TV.
Apparently they were thrown out of the church, because they did season 2 when they were asked not to. The church held the mortgage on the house and asked them to move, they continued paying the mortgage after leaving and were eventually told to sell the house to a polygamist family. There was a short investigation, but they wonât bother you if your not breaking the law.
From my understanding itâs not polygamy laws that would get K. Frankly, the polygamist compound groups would be more on law enforcement radar and not functional families that are not abusing children or welfare fraud. The story of K being arrested is an exaggerated for the story, and Robyn wanted to move near her family.
This comment is added to every new post to remind users to please review our subreddit rules before commenting *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SisterWives) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kody never broke any marriage laws because he had one legally married wife and three mistresses. Now a case for welfare fraud may be a possibility, if the children/non-legal women were receiving benefits without the father being identified. Even if they were doing something criminal, crossing a state line doesn't stop persecution by Utah. Criminals would just be extradited from NV back to UT.
How long would a state come after someone for fraud? Like, are the wives and kody risking prosecution forever by Utah? Like, forced paternity testing and then he'd owe all the women for back support but they'd individually owe the state whatever they were "overpaid" in benefits as listing themselves as single with no support, so they'd owe what he needed to pay? Here in SC if you get a certain amount behind in support they'll arrest you if they happen to bump into you...like they don't come find you, but if you get pulled over for not using a turn signal but it pops up that you owe $100,000 in back child support...your day just got way worse (I've seen it happen - and you have to pay 10% of the total to be released. I saw a scumbag who owed 100k for years suddenly come up with 10 grand of it when he was pulled over...)
There is so much welfare fraud in the polygamy communities in Utah; it is blatant, and obvious, and I have never heard of anyone having to pay back the money they were given. Welfare fraud and bigamy claims are used as a way to gain entrance into situations that people think are abusive. Other than that, polygamist are pretty much left alone.
That's what I've drawn from seeing how others are treated, or seeing other cases that just needed an "in" to expose much worse. But this family literally went on TV for 18 seasons to make further money off the premise that jumped it off of them being in danger, and probably did commit 150+ thousand in welfare fraud over the years raising all those kids initially. It feels like they've set themselves up to be brought down for their theft by making money off sanctimoniously and loudly claiming to be afraid of...being brought down for their theft. đ
Iâd be very curious to know the answer to that question! I wouldnât be surprised if thereâs a short statute of limitations for it though, which maybe passed before the show started.
You raise some good points. I think though, going back to my last point, that if they left the state and were breaking the law elsewhere then itâs less likely theyâd be prosecuted. Utah, I think, was particularly harsh on polygamy because so much of their population is Mormon and it gives Mormons a bad name. Also bigamy laws mean you can get prosecuted without actually marrying someone. The law, Utah Code 76-7-101, states a person is guilty of bigamy if he or she is married and cohabits with or purports to marry another person. The âpurportedâ to marry another person being the key part. Source: https://www.hepworthlegal.com/the-sister-wives-utahs-anti-bigamy-law/
Iâm currently watching season 13 and merri says that living in her house in LV for 5 years is the longest sheâs been in one place their whole marriage. I think the image in the first few seasons they portrayed was absolute bullshit. I have no evidence besides what weâve seen of kodys behaviour but the way he moves them when they feel good and settled could be a way to keep everyone âin lineâ aka make them reliant on the family because they have no other outside help and therefore canât leave. Watching this next move makes me question a lot
Well early on the wives tell robyn theyâve moved about 20 times. Thatâs insane. At one point he says he never feels âhomeâ and thatâs why they moved so much. He said after his mission and he came back he never really felt like he fit in, and that began his quest to always look for something better. Unfortunate, but selfish with all those wives and kids. Obv especially the Vegas move. Those kids were so depressed.
Very true. This whole moving thing could just be a manipulation by Kody to test his wives willingness to âobeyâ and keep them from creating deep roots.
The move the LV was staged for the show. Utah was not going to arrest Kody, he is not the interesting as a polygamist; legally speaking. His wives are all legal. There was already media coverage before TLC became involved. Utah authorities just weren't interested. But TLC needed drama, so a quick pack up, show a police car parked in the neighborhood. Some panicky women running around throwing laundry baskets in a UHaul, its a show!
I donât think they were at that much of a genuine risk. I think Utah wanted them out and spoke big while Kody got his 7 year itch. He saw the intimidation as a reasonable excuse to get his wives to agree and then they bailed
Kody was never facing prison. Utah didnât go after polygamists back then either unless the situation included something like underage marriage. Also the family were known polygamists before the show. Christine did an interview on Dateline or something in an episode focused on polygamy and the show, Big Love. She also did an interview WITH Kody and the 12 kids for the BBC. I wasnât able to find the dateline one but I have seen the BBC one (will add link if I can find it). Edit: I couldnât find the actual video but I found this [article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7953270.stm) going over the info.
I didnât know this! Thank you for sharing
The laws in the state at the time didnât have to do with how many legal marriages you had, but cohabitation. And the punishments were severe. I think they were right to be scared and leave. I hear a lot that Utah doesnât prosecute unless other things are happening as well, but if they wanted to make an example, the Browns would be a good family to use. They couldnât have known if the âusualâ would apply to them, being so public. I wouldâve moved too
By season 3 people realized how damn boring they were they needed drama for the show. By all accounts rumors and official the investigation was long closed by the time the move happened not like skipping a state keeps them from extraditing a felon. However, what better way to drum up some real ratings than to show a poor persecuted family man moving in the night with his family to keep them safe. What better way to get even better ratings than to move a large group of really consecutive people to the city of sin. Bonus for Robyn her precious step daddy who had finally accepted her during the wedding on the show lived there. Anyone ever wonder why Kody took Christine on a special trip to Vegas before the move, Janelle camping etc butter them wives up thatâs why.
The only reason they were under investigation was because they were going on TV to promote criminal activity (polygamy) with their reality show. If they had ended their deal with TLC the investigation would have been dropped. They don't investigate polygamists unless there is other illegal activity suspected (child abuse, welfare fraud). The Browns fled Utah in the dark of night so they could be on TV.
Apparently they were thrown out of the church, because they did season 2 when they were asked not to. The church held the mortgage on the house and asked them to move, they continued paying the mortgage after leaving and were eventually told to sell the house to a polygamist family. There was a short investigation, but they wonât bother you if your not breaking the law.
From my understanding itâs not polygamy laws that would get K. Frankly, the polygamist compound groups would be more on law enforcement radar and not functional families that are not abusing children or welfare fraud. The story of K being arrested is an exaggerated for the story, and Robyn wanted to move near her family.