Province appeals acquittal of B.C. man found not guilty in child-bride case

Feb 15, 2017 | 4:43 PM

CRANBROOK, B.C. — A special prosecutor will ask British Columbia’s Court of Appeal to overturn the acquittal of a former leader of a polygamous community who was found not guilty of taking a girl across the border for sexual purposes.

The province’s Criminal Justice Branch says prosecutor Peter Wilson has filed an appeal asking that James Oler either be convicted or that a new trial be held.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge found Oler not guilty earlier this month, saying the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the man had crossed the border with a 15-year-old girl who was later married to another member of the polygamous church.

Oler, who represented himself at the trial, was a leader in the community of Bountiful, B.C., where the trial heard plural marriage was practised.