Court hears Child-labor Case tied to polygamous group

Lawyers for a Utah contractor with ties to a polygamous group appeared in court Monday to challenge a judge’s finding that the company put nearly 200 children to work picking pecans for long hours in the cold, without pay.

Rick Sutherland, a lawyer for Paragon Contractors, argued in front of three federal judges at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver that the children, some as young as six, were volunteering with their families to pick up fallen nuts for the needy.

He added that the children looked forward to the break from homeschooling and that this kind of work has been going on for decades in polygamous sects like this one.

Paragon is challenging a ruling from U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, who found the company forced kids to work in hazardous conditions during a 2012 pecan harvest in southern Utah. There’s no timeframe on when the panel of judges may rule.