B.C. Court of Appeal orders new trial for man in child bride case

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for James Oler, who was acquitted of taking a 15-year-old girl across the border for a sexual purpose.

The Crown appealed the verdict in the case of the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bountiful, B.C., which practises polygamy.

Globalnews.ca coverage of Bountiful, B.C. polygamy case

1:40 A former member of polygamous community of Bountiful and his ex-wife are sentenced

• A former member of polygamous community of Bountiful and his ex-wife are sentenced
• Ex-Bountiful bishops convicted of polygamy
• ‘Bountiful’ child bride smuggling verdict
• Parents from B.C. polygamist community sentenced to jail

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The Appeal Court also denied an appeal from Emily Blackmore, also known as Gail, who was convicted of taking a 13-year-old girl across the border for a sexual purpose.

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A lawyer for Blackmore argued she likely didn’t know about her husband’s plan to bring the teenage girl to the U.S. to marry an older member of the sect.

In Oler’s case, the Crown told the Appeal Court the trial judge erred in concluding it had not been proven that Oler had done anything within Canada’s borders to arrange the girl’s transfer to the U.S.

The identities of the two girls are protected by a publication ban.