(WOMENSENEWS)–A polygamist in Utah was sentenced last week to five years to life in prison–the lightest possible sentence for child rape–for marrying and conceiving a child with a 13-year-old girl when he was 37. The “spiritual marriage” took place in 1986; the marriage was made legal at the trial this year.
The maximum sentence Tom Green could have received was 15 years to life. The judge said his decision to give the minimum sentence was based on Green’s strong family relationship and the statements of Linda Kunz, Green’s now 30-year-old wife. Kunz says she entered the marriage voluntarily.
Green is also serving a sentence for bigamy and failure to pay child support. His lawyer estimates he will be out of prison in four years.
Until his convictions, Green had been living in Utah with his five wives and 29 children.
At his sentencing, Green told the judge that he now believes marrying Linda Kunz, now 30, was wrong.
“I recognize, under the law, she was not capable of consenting to marriage,” Green told the Associated Press.
