Jailed polygamist vows to change ways

updated 5:57 p.m. ET July 18, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY - A notorious polygamist said that when he is released from prison next month he pledges to live with only one of his four wives — his legal one.

"I will never be living" with the other women, Tom Green said Tuesday to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, which is considering the conditions of his Aug. 7 release. "I will never be guilty of bigamy."

Green's four wives — a fifth left him during his prison stay — live in separate households. He has 32 children.

Green, 58, appeared on U.S. talk shows with his wives before he was convicted in 2001 for having sex with his first wife, Linda, when she was 13 and he was 37. He also was convicted of bigamy and of criminal nonsupport for the thousands of dollars in state payments made to support his children.

Parole board member Keith Hamilton asked Linda Green if she thought he would be faithful.

"If you asked him not to stray ... would he abide by that?" Hamilton asked.

She said her husband would obey if it meant staying out of legal trouble.

"Would you ask him?" Hamilton pressed.

"If it meant he could be a father to his children, I would, yes," she said.

Hamilton suggested one condition of Green's release might be her willingness to demand he remain faithful.

"I would do whatever the state asks for my husband to come home," she said, sobbing.

Green said he would abide by any conditions.

"I will never put myself at risk to deprive my children of a father again," he pledged.

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