Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of child rape. Reader discretion is advised.
The Utah-based polygamist Tom Green continues to garner attention years after his bigamy trial hit the headlines in the early 2000s. Before the court case, Green frequently appeared on national television shows, including Dateline and The Jerry Springer Show, to promote his lifestyle with his wives. Previously, the 1999 documentary One Man, Six Wives and 29 Children dived into his polygamy practices.
Tom Green died in 2021 at the age of 72, reported AP News. He was survived by three wives, 34 children, 54 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren following his passing.
What was polygamist Tom Green convicted of?
Per The New York Times, in 2001, Green was convicted on four counts of bigamy and one count of criminal nonsupport after failing to provide support for nine of his children. The following year, Green was convicted of child rape for having a sexual relationship with his first wife, Linda Kunz, who was a minor at the time while he was in his late 30s.
According to The Guardian, Green told the judge before being sentenced for the child rape that he was wrong for marrying Linda Kunz at such a young age. He said, “I recognise, under the law, she was not capable of consenting to marriage.” Kunz, who was Green’s stepdaughter before the marriage, had her first child when she was just 13. Moreover, the wife told the judge she did not “consider myself a victim.” At 30 years old with seven children, Kunz said that it was she who “fell in love” and “pursued him.”
What was polygamist Tom Green’s prison sentence?
Green received a five-year sentence for the first conviction. He further received five years to life in prison for the child rape conviction, reported The Guardian. Per The Salt Lake Tribune, the polygamist was granted parole in 2007. He told the board that he would not marry again. Furthermore, to not violate Utah’s bigamy law again, he and his spouses lived in units of a quadplex in Springville.
The documentary One Man, Six Wives and 29 Children is available to watch on the Real Stories YouTube channel.
