A decades-long polygamy case in B.C. came to an end on Monday.
The court found James Oler married five women in so-called “celestial” marriages involving residents in the tiny religious community of Bountiful.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Ann Donegan ruled earlier in the day that Oler’s co-defendant Winston Blackmore was also guilty of polygamy after the trial heard he married 24 additional women after marrying Jane Blackmore.
WATCH: Legal battle with alleged B.C. polygamists leaders spans decades
Blackmore and Oler were once bishops in the isolated community of Bountiful, and were accused of having multiple wives.
Ten of Blackmore’s wives were 17 years old when he married them, three were 16 and one was 15 years old. Together they had 145 children.
READ MORE: Evidence unreliable in polygamy case: defence
There have been several failed attempts at charging Blackmore in the past due to vague laws surrounding polygamy.
Police started investigating Bountiful in the 90s.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that laws banning the practice were legal.
Blackmore faces a maximum of five years in prison.
The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is based in Utah, officially renounced polygamy in the late 19th century and disputes the fundamentalist group’s connection to Mormonism.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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