Winston Blackmore

Winston Blackmore (born August 25, 1956) is the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint religious group in Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. He is described as "Canada's best-known avowed polygamist". He has 150 children with his 27 "spiritual" wives, some of whom he has admitted were underage.

Leadership and excommunication The polygamous community at Bountiful was founded by Blackmore's father, Ray Blackmore, and his older cousin, Harold Wooley Blackmore. Ray later removed Harold and took full control of Bountiful.

In September 2002, Warren Jeffs excommunicated Blackmore; however, Blackmore asserts that he left the church of his own accord. The community of Bountiful was split nearly in half—about 400 people followed Blackmore, and the rest followed Jeffs.

Canadian polygamy case Blackmore and another community leader, James Oler who had replaced Blackmore as FLDS bishop, were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in January 2009 and charged with polygamy. The charges were later thrown out owing to questions about how the Crown selected its prosecutors. Blackmore's lawyers attempted to appeal the case, which was overruled in May 2016. Blackmore's trial began on April 18, 2017.

On July 24, 2017, Blackmore was found guilty of polygamy in the British Columbia Supreme Court. He and Oler faced up to five years in prison for violation of Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

On May 15, 2018, in Cranbrook, British Columbia, special prosecutor Peter Wilson recommended a jail sentence of between 90 days and six months for Blackmore and a term of one month to 90 days for Oler. On 27 June 2018, Justice Sheri Ann Donegan sentenced Blackmore to six months' house arrest. Oler was sentenced to three months' house arrest.

Family As of August 31, 2019, Blackmore has married 27 wives and has 150 children. His family operates J R Blackmore & Sons Ltd, a timber milling business.