I think the rumors about improper relations with underage girls is far overblown. The two major issues come up with Fanny Alger and Hellen Mar Kimball.
In the case of Alger, the supposed relationship occurred in 1833, when she lived with the Smith's and got pregnant. The problem I have is that Joseph never even mentioned plural marriage until 1838, and now she is lumped in with all of his other sealings, despite no evidence that she was. Also, the child who everyone assumed was his has now been proven through DNA to not be his, so a nasty rumor of infidelity that turned out to be false is lumped into polygamy. I don't buy it.
In the case of the second example of Hellen Kimball, she was 14, and sealed to Smith, but only at the request of her father Heber C. Kimball. She never lived with Joseph and the apparent sealing was a way to link the Kimball's with the prophet in what historians call a dynastic connection. There is no evidence that she ever had any kind of marital relationship with the prophet.
As for Brigham Young, he married a lot of women, many of whom he never had children with, and was more to support husbandless women. It seems to me a pretty extreme position to take just to have relations with young women. It certainly was never in practice as it is now in the breakaway sects we hear about in the news.
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