Source: The New York Times
On May 24, 2001, The New York Times reported that "a conviction of a Utah man on bigamy charges last week caused anxiety about the state's polygamists, many of whom have grown fearful that prosecutors may now be eager to bring them to trial on the same charges." The conviction may make polygamous families "more reluctant to seek outside help for child abuse, domestic violence, and emergencies." Some members of polygamous families contend that Tom Green presents a false image of polygamy because he has "wives and children in far greater numbers than average polygamist husbands," and because he married one of his wives when she was 13, which "may leave the impression that all polygamist husbands marry under-age girls and abuse children."