NEPHI, Utah (Reuters) - An outspoken Utah polygamist who went on national television to advocate his way of life was found guilty on Monday of raping a child, a girl he married when she was just 13.
Utah state Judge Donald Eyre handed down the verdict against Tom Green after a trial that lasted less than two hours and in which no witnesses testified.
"This has been a very unusual case. The alleged crime took place over 16 years ago. Really, there was no dispute of the facts," the judge said.
Green, who has a total of five wives and has fathered 33 children, looked impassive when the judge handed down his guilty verdict. Sentencing was set for Aug. 16, after Green undergoes a standard pre-sentencing psychiatric exam.
"Our message is: polygamist girls of this state deserve the same protection as non-polygamist girls," Juab County District Attorney David Leavitt, brother of Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, said later. He called the crime "atrocious, unthinkable and should never have happened. Mr. Green should go to prison."
Green, 54, has been serving a sentence of up to five years since he was convicted last year of being married to five women at the same time. He could go to prison for life for raping a minor.
Green has admitted having sexual intercourse with Linda Kunz after he married her in 1986 when he was 37 and she was just 13.
But he argued that the marriage -- which produced a baby -- took place in Mexico and that Utah authorities had no jurisdiction. The judge ruled a week ago there was enough evidence to show that a conspiracy to carry out the rape happened in Utah.
Green's attorney John Bucher said the defense will appeal on the jurisdiction question.
The defense had also said the statute of limitations had run out on the 1986 crime, but the judge had previously ruled that the statute did not begin to run until authorities saw Green on television, talking about how his polygamous life.
Green has said officials knew about his living arrangements for years, but did nothing until he appeared on TV.
WIFE BREAKS DOWN CRYING
Kunz, was called to testify at Monday's trial but was excused after she invoked the right not to testify against her husband. Kunz, who has seven children with Green, broke down in tears shortly after the verdict was read.
"We're still a family. Children are still brothers and sisters because Tom the husband and father is not home doesn't change the fact that we're a family," Kunz said after the verdict was announced.
During the trial, prosecutor Monte Stewart played for the court a tape of Green's appearance on the TV program Dateline.
During the interview Green is asked if without the statute of limitation defense or the jurisdiction question if he would be without any defense. "That's correct," Green said on the videotape at which time the prosecutor shut off the tape, saying, "The state rests."
Green and the women have also appeared on Jerry Springer and "48 Hours" and talked about how the children were cared for and the sleeping arrangements, giving a rare glimpse into the polygamist lifestyle.
Green has 33 children, with 29 of them living at home in a remote area on the Utah-Nevada border. His five wives, including Kunz, are still there, eking out a living by selling magazine subscriptions and relying on friends and family.
Anti-polygamy groups say many people in rural Utah practice plural marriage, believing it adheres to the original guidance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- commonly called the Mormon church. Green holds such beliefs.
Polygamy was originally encouraged by Mormons, who settled in the Utah territory after fleeing religious persecution. But the church banned the practice in 1890 to win full statehood in the United States for Utah, where it now has a base for its fast-growing, worldwide religion.
In last year's bigamy trial, Green was found guilty by a jury, but in the child rape case, the decision was left up to the judge.