B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says a special prosecutor will investigate allegations of misconduct in Bountiful, a polygamous community tucked into the southeastern corner of the province.

Lawyer Terrence Robertson, chosen by B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch, will carry out the investigation.

"He will conduct an analysis of the whole file ... to determine whether or not a prosecution would be warranted," Oppal told reporters Monday.

Winston Blackmore, the leader of Bountiful, is said to have two dozen wives -- and more than a hundred children -- although that has not been confirmed. He recently laid out a defence to possible legal action. He said that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects religious practice -- and by extension the practice of polygamy.

"A fundamental tenent of our faith is the principal where a man can have two or more companions," Blackmore told CTV News earlier this spring.

Previous legal opinions found that it would be difficult to lay criminal charges for polygamy. However, one opinion suggested that a court challenge of polygamy laws could be a better legal track than criminal prosecution.

"This file has been with the attorney general's ministry for over 20 years," said Oppal.

He told reporters that in the early 1990s, the ministry announced it was their belief the polygamy sections of the criminal code violated the section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms dealing with religious freedom.

"The file lay in that state for quite some period of time," said Oppal. "When I was appointed in 2005, we determined there was some priority in this because of the circumstances in Bountiful."

In the past, B.C. politicians have said they were concerned about the polygamous community, located near the town of Creston.

Premier Gordon Campbell had said that Bountiful "poses a vexing problem."

"I'm as upset by what I understand is happening in Bountiful as I think most British Columbians are," he said earlier this spring.

The community has come under focus in recent months because of a high profile raid of a polygamous compound in Texas. There were allegations that children at the ranch had been abused.

Both communities are made up of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and share some familial ties, but have completely different leadership.

Blackmore has said he was troubled by the Texas raid and claims of abuse. He had said nothing like that would happen in his community.

There has been no evidence to support the allegations against the Texas sect. Hundreds of children who were taken into custody by Texas state officials are now in the process of being returned to their parents.

With a report by CTV's Rob Brown