Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Kody Brown and Meri Brown **Affidavit 10/18/2011 "Sister Wives Blog"


Here are the highlights of Kody and Meri's statements:



• I was a resident of Lehi, Utah, where I was civilly married to Plaintiff Meri Brown, and spiritually married to Plaintiffs Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Sullivan.



• My family are members of the Apostolic United Brethren Church, a fundamentalist faith and plural marriage is central to our faith.


• In January 2011, I left Utah for fear that Utah law enforcement officials would break up my family and prosecute the adults under the state's criminal bigamy statute for maintaining a plural family. ***Hmmmmmm


• When we considered participation in the Sister Wives program on TLC, I had repeated contacts with state officials. In the course of those meetings I asked the defendants questions to determine if we be would subject to investigation or prosecution if we went public


• On at least three occasions in the year before Sister Wives aired, I spoke with Defendant Shurtleff and his press secretary about our plural family and our desire to go public. I told Defendant Shurtleffthat I was considering going public with the details and realities of our plural family. I asked Defendant Shurtleff if Shurtleff would pursue me criminally if I went public, and Defendant Shurtleff answered that he would not. At this February 2009 meeting, Defendant Shurtleff told me that Utah lacked the resources to prosecute polygamists and that I would not be prosecuted unless I was committing crimes such as marrying child brides, promoting incestuous relationships, or committing welfare or tax fraud.


• However, the day after the first episode aired, Lehi Police Department publicly announced that our family was under investigation under the bigamy statute and were subject to prosecution for our plural family structure.


• What followed were public statements from prosecutors reaffirming that the state viewed my family as felons and that we were committing criminal acts by living as a plural family.


• Deputy Utah County Attorney Julia Thomas stated that we were placed under investigation when prosecutors saw promotional trailers for Sister Wives airing on TV. Vince Horiuchi, Going Public 'Was a Risk Worth Taking,' Utah Polygamists Say, Salt Lake City Trib., Sept. 29, 2010.


• Ms. Thomas also stated that we were breaking the law and effectively admitting to criminal acts every night.These statements and the very public investigation have had an immediate, continuing, and negative impact on my family.


• We have had to prepare for the possibility that the adults could be taken from our family - leaving our children without support or parental guidance.


• Efforts of some of the adults to find employment was hampered by our being labeled as felons and guilty of open and admitted criminal acts.


• For example, the day after the investigation was announced, one of my largest sales accounts in my prior employment contacted my office manager in Orem and said "we can't have Kody be associated with us anymore and we need the account reassigned."


• I had developed this account over the course of three years and it was one of the top five accounts that I had maintained as a sales representative working for Young Electric Sign Company. This banking institution was very close to signing a new sale with me.


• I saw other sales drop after the public comments of the prosecutors and the criminal investigation into our plural family.


• The threat of prosecution and public statements had a profound impact on the family's health and lifestyle. The adults lost sleep and Robyn dropped dangerously in weight over the constant threat that our family could be destroyed at any time.


• The coercive effect on the entire family was so pronounced that any appearance of a police cruiser on our street became a matter of alarm - not knowing whether prosecutors had chosen this moment to break up our family and arrest some or all of the adults.


• I intend to continue to practice my religious faith, including polygamy, as does my entire
family.


• We have, however, been curtailed in our speech and associations due to the threat of prosecution and continued public comments from prosecutors.


• We have been unable to fully participate in our religious community due to our separation from Utah and we curtailed some associations and religious activities to try to protect family and friends from similar treatment by state officials.


• Yet even after the move to Nevada, prosecutors have continued to stress that their investigation of our family is ongoing and that they reserved the right to prosecute the family.


• Our continued labeling as presumptive felons has proven a barrier in finding new positions for the adults in Nevada

• No family should have to live under a classification as criminals simply because the majority of citizens object to their private relationships or religious-based practices.



Meri:

• Efforts of some of the adults to find employment was hampered by our being labeled as felons and guilty of open and admitted criminal acts.


• In my case, I was fired due to criminal investigation and being labeled a felon due to our family structure


• I had worked for Youth Care of Utah for 1 year.


• When we decided to participate in the Sister Wives program, I informed my supervisors
and the company management.


• There was no objection to the show and I received positive feedback from my co- workers.


• I was specifically told by my supervisor that everything was fine and that the show and my lifestyle would not be a problem.


• I was put on administrative leave at the beginning of the next regular scheduled day of work after statement from the prosecutor labeling us as criminals. Please double check this. I am not sure if there were prosecutors at that point - just the announcement of the investigation by the Lehi City Police Department.


• In October 3, 2010, I came to work on a Sunday only to find high-ranking management present - something I had never seen.


• I was pulled into an office and told that I would be placed on administrative leave until
corporate management decided how to handle "the situation."


• I was called into the office on Tuesday, October 5., I was told they had to called me in to tell they had decided to terminate my employment. I was not working due to administrative leave.


• I objected because I had been open about my polygamous family structure and the show, but the management made clear that it was not my polygamous family that motivated my termination.


• Rather, the management told me it was the fact that I was under criminal investigation and the statements in the media that the state considered me (and my family) to be committing felonies under state law. Actually they were specifically worried about police showing up to the work place.


• My employer offered me a "severance" pay with the condition that if I accepted it I would never speak of the circumstances regarding my separation.


• I refused to accept the money in exchange for my silence.

54 comments:

  1. I am so mad at those yokel Lehi cops/DAs. If they had just kept their mouth shut, the Browns wouldn't have been able to sue.

    Kody offered up some bait, and they took it. TLC got dramatic TV, and he got his agenda and his attention.

    The Utah AG is already saying this will make it to the Supreme Court. TLC is just chomping at the bit.

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  2. Really??
    I am shocked. Why, because they blabbed that stuff?

    What about the fact it can be proven otherwise, they didn't leave out of fear? AND, they never got arrested.

    So you think they will what? Get polygamy legal? Or get restitution for damages here?

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  3. Robyn lost the weight, but it looks like the others found it.

    And, DANGEROUSLY thin?, girl please!

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    Replies
    1. Oh too funny! I am curious as to why why why is Cody sporting around in a sports car ! As if he isn't through courting!
      While the other wives are driving family cars!

      Delete
  4. Let's say there's a stupid law that owning a border collie is a felony.

    Now, everyone has border collies, and no one has actually enforced this, so you can't sue, even if you have a border collie.

    But when a cop threatens you about your border collie or the County Attorney goes in the paper and calls you a *felon* because you went on TV with your border collie, and then you get fired, you can sue.

    They should have just kept their mouths shut and let everyone else run them off.

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  5. BUT, MERI said on TV she got fired because of the SHOW. It's in here somewhere.

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  6. I'm breaking the law, and I am going on TV to tell everyone in the world, and just in case not everyone watches the show, I am going to make sure everyone.single.person.I.meet at 7-11 or anywhere else knows that I am breaking the law. Then I am going to sue law enforcement for possibly prosecuting me when the rest law-abiding citizens of the world are up-in-arms that I am not only breaking the law, but rubbing it in everyone's face. Hmmmm, I don't see what the problem is. (snort)

    I will agree to disagree on the Meri/job thing, but on the show, I still say said she lost "the job". Then in the full segment, it turned out it was a promotion she really wanted where she worked. I don't want to start anything, and I am staying with that. To me it was fishy, and it was the same time all of this "fishy" prosecution behavior/fear was going on. I think they were setting themselves up for this.

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  7. ^^^Sorry I didn't proof read the above.

    Didn't Meri lose her job/promotion not for being involved in polygamy, but because the reality show would give unwanted attention. Why would Meri be a felon? Wouldn't it just be Kody? If they were not legally married, how are any of them felons? I will not argue this, I just don't understand certain parts of the law. TIA.

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  8. "Ms. Thomas also stated that we were breaking the law and effectively admitting to criminal acts every night.These statements and the very public investigation have had an immediate, continuing, and negative impact on my family."

    So this is where they messed up???

    Didn't someone else speak too-

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  9. "No family should have to live under a classification as criminals simply because the majority of citizens object to their private relationships or religious-based practices."

    LOGIC FAIL. Nice try, Meri. All you've got to do is look down the street at the compound to see why religion doesn't mean you aren't a felon.

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  10. So.....What would they get, exactly if they won this case?

    Are they going to legalize polygamy in Utah?

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  11. Can someone lead me to the AUB site on the web?

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  12. Does anyone have a link to their most recent court documents ?

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  13. This won't stop at Utah, no matter what the outcome. This will make it all the way, one way or the other.

    That's why TLC needs to hold on to these losers for years!!! Somebody in that family knew what they were doing when they sued.

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  14. Wow the Brown's are full of BS!!!
    Entrapment & since Kody just "spoke " & it wasn't an official interview, that could just be considered HEAR SAY!! Are there binding documents or evidence to prove these conversions took place??
    Also the underlying crimes they WERE & possibly still committing us WELFARE FRAUD!! They go in claiming to be single moms & of course still using their maiden names when applying :/ Also most DHS Tanf /FS ask who the father is, so they can try to enforce CHILD SUPPORT, but I'm sure all. 3 concubines play dumb & O woe is me victims!! THEY ARE ALL PATHETIC & ALL NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR TAX EVASION & WELFARE FRAUD!
    LOSERS!! :/
    Maybe we can start a nationwide petition to help the Utah DA's office. Is this possible??? Sign me up!!

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  15. They disgust me, each and every one of them.

    And I hope they introduce the first day of the show where they talked about how they knew they were risking prosecution by being on the show.

    Thought they were safe from prosecution my ass.

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  16. That's a good point.

    Do you think we were played abut Hunter? Do you think they will use that in court? i betcha.

    It's kinda unfair the Browns used the Show for the furtherment of their cause, Legal Polygamy.

    What can they get from this?

    It makes me think the show is manipulated and not "real" like Christine said.

    Funny, without TLC, he wouldn't have the 4th wife. Got turned down before.

    It saddens me in a way they are coming off bad. Even if they win, they look shallow, manipulative, and untrustworthy.

    Did they get prosecuted? NO.
    They could be making up alot of this. I doubt many people would walk up to them and harass them.

    I really really hoped they were using the show. Sad.

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  17. Sorry, but could you explain (Anon 6:05) that he was turned down? Did you mean Kody? I just haven't heard this ... Thanks ahead for any information. :)

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  18. It was on this blog, lord knows where, awhile back that an AUB member knew for a fact? that Kody had wanted to take another wife earlier, but the AUB said NO, because of his shoddy finances.
    They sign up with TLC, they approve him marrying Robyn. You have to have your priests approval. **WEll, not "Married" but whatever they do.

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  19. I truely (hee hee) hope the ladies get skinny- I'd love to see them all give Robyn a run for her money!

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  20. http://www.scribd.com/doc/57590942/Detailed-Assets-Debts-in-the-Bankruptcy-Filing-of-Sister-Wives-Star-Christine-Allred-Brown-3-2010

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  21. About Robyn being dangerously thin...WTF EVER....they need to show her from the episode she "met the family " on camera. Then show her miracle boobs that appeared overnight :/
    As far as Hunter goes ...did anyone SEEK MEDICAL OR PROFESSIONAL HELP for these "ailments " & get it in writing? Most normal people seek help when they know something is wrong. Or are they all certified Dr's who can make these diagnosis?
    This family has gone too damn far & just has a MAJOR ICCKKKKK factor now!!
    They literally brought all this stuff on themselves!! ThRecords & pattern show that they have been financially strapped for yrs now! He had NO BUSINESS adding a 4th wife w/ 3 extra kids+ new pregnancy too!! Esp when Truely was just born last yr & took an 11 day honeymoon which I know wasn't cheap. All of this should be allowed to use against the Brown's bc if they were in such hardship then none of this shouldn't have happened!
    Maybe they can use that TLC wouldn't have signed another yr if they didn't agree too add a 4th wife

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  22. https://texasflds.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/continued-from-general-discussion-57/


    Note the comment about the Brown family and their "TLC" sham

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  23. All the Bank. papers, but Robyn's (I heard she filed in Mexico, I am not sure) are under Popular Posts - Sister Wives used the Welfare System.
    I know we'd all like to see Robyn's if anyone finds them!

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  24. Kody is giddy about his position in life, saying "I'm caught in a chick flick, and I'm loving it!"

    Read this quote on another site. Ick, ick.....

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  25. I don't get it I guess. I looked it up after reading some comments and you are right Caramel Brownie, they have claimed bankruptcy each wife claiming it at one time or another, and the credit card had thousand of dollars each time in unsecured debt. That to me is fraud, once maybe if you became ill or lost a job, but maybe not even then. They just have so many children and not enough jobs to support them so they claim bankruptcy. Kody had no business having another child or bringing in another woman, I refuse to say marrying because he isn't married to her. If a married couple claimed bankruptcy as much as they did, they would be under investigation for fraud, not bigamy~=

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  26. People want to share spouses, what on earth is wrong with that so long as they are consenting adults? So long as no one is being forced into that lifestyle, why the hell not? To be sure, the Brown family seems like they have moral lapses when it comes to money/government support, but there are people on the plural spectrum that fall all over the moral spectrum, just like people who choose one spouse have rotten apples in the bunch.

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  27. Welfare fruad is rampant in Utah polygamists or not and Utah has very few resources to prosecute it, and offenders know this. I would love to see Kody and the wives get charged with welfare fruad if they abused the system, as it appears they did. I lived in a nice suburban neighborhood and I wondered how all these self employed people got insurance or paid for maternity expenses. At a playgroup one mom taught how to work the system. I turned her in, with a ton of evidence and the Utah hotline said they have less then 10 people in the entire state to investgate fraud and over 50% of babies are born on welfare(baby your baby state medicaid). The state knows there has to be fruad. They finally investigated the mom that was teaching the other women but her family saved her(saying she was seperated and living with them).
    Maybe someone should call or send a packet info to the fraudline in Utah. I have no problems with polygamy but I have a HUGE issue with welfare fruad.

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  28. If things don't work out the way Kody wants them to I would not be surprised if they do not sue TLC for encouraging a fourth wife and therefore causing a hardship on the rest of the family.

    Nothing about the Brown family would surprise me or the lengths they go about to achieve it.

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  29. Caramel Brownie you're right ... The ick factor is off the charts!!! And thx to the above poster who cleared it up about Kody being turned down before. Wow the Browns are clowns.

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  30. I always wondered where Kody worked in ad sales. According to this he worked at YESCO (Young electric sign co.) which is based in Utah but its claim to fame is Vegas. It ruins the famous graveyard/boneyard of all the old strip casino signs (if you watch storage wars Barry went there to get a green stamp sign apraised). YESCO is the major supplier of the lighted signs on the strip. If Kody was such a great salesman why didn't he get a job transfer? or why could he not work at a non sales position or at the sign graveyard in Vegas. Probably because he doesn't want to work or wasn't such an asset to the company.

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  31. Hm so that's where he was working! I wondered exactly what company he worked for. interesting.

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  32. You know, if you're some egomaniacal creepy man who wants to have multiple wives and a crapload of kids, FINE!!! Do it! It doesn't surprise me that these freak, mormon fundamentalists USE the very society that they don't "trust" to pay for their lifestyle! Live off the grid and don't ask for our social services to pay your bills and support your kids! How can you get more hypicritcal than that?! So much for basic morals and standards! Kody has a legal obligation to provide for his self-made, huge ass family!! And if his wives have received financial assistance under the guise of being "single mothers" who "won't tell who the baby's daddy is," well, then they're not decent people! They're grifters! USERS! Just like their Joseph Smith himself! Now they have a television show paying for their indecent and immoral lifestyle. It's pathetic!
    AND PLEEAASSEEE...if Kody can read this...NEVER refer to yourself as being "monogomous to each of my wives."!!!! YOU ARE NOT MONOGOMOUS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM!!! You lay with each woman in turn. So basically, YOU'RE ALL HAVING SEX TOGETHER!! Having a monogomous relationship take far more personal character and morality. You see...I don't just run off to some other guy when I'm unhappy. I stay with my husband and we work it out TOGETHER. Kody, you really don't know any of your so-called wives. I'm sure your penis does, but you don't. And what kind of real relationship do you have with all your part-time children?! And that brings me to Robyn's 3 children...where the hell is those kid's father?! Did that father co-sign for his kids to be part of this mess?
    What a nest of degredation and hypocracy!!

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  33. remember in first season when Kodi and Meri were out discussing Robyn coming into the family? and Meri asked Kody how he would feel if she was taking on another husband. and he said the thought of that just disgusted him. HAH!

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  34. This was calculated so they would be able to sue. I feel like such an idiot for thinking these people were persecuted.

    Obviously, this poor-me, persecuted act is ingrained in all of their brainwashing. You can really see it in Robyn and Christine.

    These people have a disgusting sense of entitlement. Celebrity will make it worse and they'll be able to rip off all kinds of people in a pyramid scheme. Sad.

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  35. Where's Female Attorney!?! Come back!

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  36. I didn't even think about that Sissey. I wouldn't put it past him either :/
    I second that motion Goji Juice, Female Attorney plz come back :)

    **LIGHT BULB**
    Wouldn't it be great if we could all show up to Kodys Liv speaking debut wearing
    I
    <3
    TEAM
    *MOLE* T-shirts :)

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  37. I just had another great T-shirt shirt idea! !
    DUH BROWN'S
    (w/ pic of a big pile of poo & 5 flys buzzing around it)
    Hahahahaha
    Dang now they'll prolly steal my T-shirt ideas but of course w/ a positive spin on it :/

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  38. OK one more time,, Candy I agree with you!! I could never live that life. we were taught early on from our parents that when you have sex with someone you have sex with everyone they have had sex with.... Ickkk is right. Kody's mom now can go into town? If she were proud of her choices she wouldn't give a damn, because those people don't pay their bills..... Oh wait we do pay their bills through food stamps and other state assists What part of this life did Kody and the 4 not get? It is illegal? That so many polygamists live off the state? That people think it is wrong to have so many children and then claim bankruptcy, live off welfare and wick and then claim they are misunderstood? What part of that did they think would be easy or classy to explain to the audience? It would be easier for the government to say hey have as many wives and kids as you want as long as you don't expect us to cover your ass when you can't afford food or insurance. Think about it they never pick a old woman in her forties who can't have children,,, no it is usually a younger woman in her child bearing years,,,,,,

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  39. Kody wanted to change the way we view polygamy and it worked..I'm horrifed!So sad that these folks are using welfare and bankrupcy to support their lifestyle (not very moral Kody, et al).

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  40. The reasons I couldn't be a sister wife:)
    1. I don't like to share.
    2. I would have to be the prettiest, skinnier than all the others.
    3. I would have to have the favorite kids.
    4. I would have to be the favorite and pick less attractive than me, but still attractive sister wives, so people didn't say we picked heavy unattractive sister wives.
    5. I would have to have the best clothes and hair.
    6. I would have to have a great house.
    7. I would never claim bankruptcy or live off of the state.
    8. I would have to have a very stable car. That looked good too.
    9. 3 children would be the max.
    10. I would have to have a man that regarded me as his equal and treated me as the prize instead of the way Kody lives, eye on the prize girls and it's me Kody!

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  41. Hi Everyone!!
    Them wanting more more more certainly has struck a chord with many people. I was told very early on the show was a vehicle for this, and I did not want to believe it. but, sadly, it has come to fruition.
    It was all a game, it seems.


    "Money for nuthin and the chick for free"

    Robyn makes me mad when she says prostitutes are cheaper.
    No they are not! They don't give you a bunch of kids, work, welfare, etc.!
    Caramel Brownie and others, all good points.

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  42. Hi Everyone!!
    Them wanting more more more certainly has struck a chord with many people. I was told very early on the show was a vehicle for this, and I did not want to believe it. but, sadly, it has come to fruition.
    It was all a game, it seems.


    "Money for nuthin and the chick for free"

    Robyn makes me mad when she says prostitutes are cheaper.
    No they are not! They don't give you a bunch of kids, work, welfare, etc.!
    Caramel Brownie and others, all good points.

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  43. I believe the reason many of us have soured on the Browns is that initially we felt some sort of connect even though we don't agree with the lifestyle. Now I realize we have been suckered, or at least that's the way I feel. Well, I never felt suckered by Robyn. On the contrary I have believed from the beginning that the other wives see thru her but pretend it's ok. I think Meri has some sort of sick need to feel jealous. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think she likes going thru the whole drama in a sense. Now knowing they have chosen this and have collected govt. aid and repeatedly run up bills like credit cards probably knowing all along they would bankrupt changes everything.

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  44. Well Said, Frontal Lobe.
    We've been used. I feel dirty.

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  45. They have proven to be a bunch of greedy grifters. They deserve a collective spit.

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  46. Caramel you crack me up. So many good coments!

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  47. I'd like to see the children of these folks have happy safe lives instead of wishing them harm or public ridicule and humiliation. Lots of people all over have faced bankruptcies, been forced to use credit cards, forced to use govt. aid, etc. At least they are together and not out getting married to man after man upsetting their kids or exposing them to perverts, drugs, or alcohol. They have a right to ask for help and hopefully not lying when filling out forms, but how many women do others know who get on foodstamps then let some boyfriend practically support them? I enjoy the show, and only feel sad because they are not in a correct faith IMO> I'm Baptist and believe in faith in the shed blood of Jesus only, no works, nothing else is required.

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  48. I think it was made perfectly clear by the folks Kody has known since childhood...he requires constant attention. Why would anyone in their right mind go on TV w/their illigal misdeeds and expect to get a pass? Not only has he publicly outed the ladies in his life, he has brought his children into the public spotlight. There is no limit to his need to be center stage and talked about.

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  49. Just because this lifestyle is not appropriate for you does not mean that it is not right. Here is a man who has four open relationships and takes care of his children and people want to pass judgment on them? In reality these children are better taken care of than the many men in America who who call cheaters and continue to have children that they are neglecting. But remember, just because you do not understand the lifestyle or the belief is not for you, does not allow you to pass judgment upon the Brown family.

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  50. Anon. 8:26- Define "takes care of his children". He doesn't have a job. What can you possibly be referring to? He is a jackass that has gotten by by filing for multiple bankruptcies through his multiple mistresses. Now, he gets this show (albeit entertaining) and pretends that being investigated for a crime that he is on national television admitting to is what has caused him and his family "harm." Really? I thought these idiots lost their jobs because they went on national tv and no self-respecting client would want to be associated with this.

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  51. What's the difference between his "spiritual" wives (Janelle, Christine, and Robyn) and live in girlfriends? Nothing. He isn't truly breaking a law because he didn't civilly marry the last 3 wives... meaning they didn't go file for a marriage license. If they had, THAT would be breaking the law. It's all a bogus claim. There are jerks all over the nation that have more than one family at the same time.

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  52. Are the other wives jealous of Robyn
    It doesn't seem like Christine likes her! Perhaps insecurity?

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  53. Cody Brown is worthless. He does not help around the house nor with the kids. No wonder the wives do not mind sharing him. At least the chores get done. I wouldn't mind another woman around the house to help clean. That would be all, just clean. If the sisters would just realize that he is just a penis.

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