Salt Lake City - The Utah Domestic Violence Council is raising concerns about a sharp increase in calls to a hotline from alleged victims of domestic abuse in polygamous communities along the Utah-Arizona border.
State Attorney General's spokesman Paul Murray says the council's "Linkline" is receiving about 200 calls a month from people in those communities.
The twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah are headquarters for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Convicted child sex abuser and prophet Warren Jeffs is serving a prison sentence in Texas but still controls followers of the polygamous sect.
Shannon Price, the director of a group providing resources to youths leaving polygamous towns, told KUTV it's not clear if violence is increasing or just being reported at a higher rate.
