A Columbian Supreme Court gave conditional sentences of 6-month house arrest to two men found guilty of polygamy. Winston Blackmore, has 24 wives and another man named James Oler has 5 wives. Both these men belong to Mormon sect, which has a fundamentalism of polygamy. They were first convicted of polygamy but owing to their breakaway faith, their jail time has been saved.

Blackmore has been given a 6-month conditional sentence under the 6-month house arrest, which allows him to go to work and also address his medical emergencies. While Oler is given three months of house arrest. Justice Sheri Ann Donegan said that both the men are very hard-working and have just been following their faith. To quote the judge, "He's made it clear that no sentence will deter him from practicing his faith,' the judge said of Blackmore, 61, who also has 149 children. 'The concept of remorse is foreign to him in this context." The judge said this about Blackmore's case which has more grave offences with some of his wives as young as 15. Oler is deeply motivated by his sincerely held religious beliefs which had been instilled in him at an early age.

Both these men have been ordered to do community service with Blackmore for 150 hours and Oler for 75 hours. Dozens of Blackmore's supporters were in court and some of them even cried when his sentence was being read out. His lawyer also asked the court to let him go scotfree, a total absolute discharge, considering all the possibilities. Both Blackmore and Oler have been leaders in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They reside in a small community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia. The maximum sentence for polygamy under the criminal code, otherwise, is five years of imprisonment. The religious faith has saved both these men of severe punishment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 05:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).