Nevada Senator Plans Polygamy Task Force Bill

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Nevada lawmaker plans to introduce legislation for a federal polygamy task force.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers says told The Salt Lake Tribune the Victims of Polygamy Assistance Act is aimed at increasing collaborative work between federal state and local law enforcement investigating polygamy-related crimes and provide public assistance to women leaving polygamous groups.

Reid is expected to introduce the legislation Wednesday. It would create grants for police agencies and provide funds for witness relocation, housing, job training and child care.

The bill comes on the heels of a Texas grand jury investigation that left six members of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints indicted for alleged felony child sexual abuse and other crimes.

Some say the bill opens the door for the largest orchestrated crackdown in polygamy in nearly a century.

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