1 choice. In 2006, it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 27 wives (including three half-sisters of his), [5] some . But age alone wont determine her answer. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. She also is a star of "Escaping Polygamy." The theft of the silver bars from Rachel Youngs basement, they concluded, had been a copycat crime. 1 choice was not her fathers. They seemed happy, Ron says. Jessicas dad told her the wife can get only as high as her husband rises. Situated at the base of a rugged mountain range, the Orders spread sat in a pristine valley of glistening hayfields and open pasture. [9], He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 Children. Paul Elden Kingston has been the leader of the Mormon fundamentalist Latter Day Church of Christ and the Davis County Cooperative Society in the United States of America since 1987. He snapped the padlock on the first crate and began stuffing the silver ingots into duffel bags, lugging them back out to the waiting Honda. I am in love with old cars and horses. Hansen said during family home evenings nights when a mans family gathers for religious studies and games her husband would take girls 12 and older who were single and lead them in a teaching. Sometimes he parked his immaculately buffed burgundy Ford Thunderbird on the curb, but it was rare to see the man himself. Paul was upset any of this had been reported at all, says a former member close to the boys. But Jessicas No. Michaels and Mary Nelson describe similar experiences with their financial aid applications and awards. The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit. Three of his wives are his half-sisters. Paul Vallas and wife Sharon have been together 38 years. Jessica was given the list of suitors. No one would accept the guilty by association view in any other culture that has been adopted by the public for ours. The family believed that discipline would rein in the boys and that hard labor would make the girls more supplicant to their husbands back in the city. These days Stephen works on a cattle ranch near the Idaho border, just down the road from where he grew up. Their father rarely came by, and because the nearest town was 18 miles away, the kids forged a fierce bond among themselves. Those families have intermarried to the extent that half brothers and sisters are now marrying one another, as well as uncles. Later the Order reportedly bought slot machines from mob-controlled companies. They were finally getting even. The clan kids from there would come to school not properly dressed for the cold, and they were always getting in fights. Cousin Carl E. Kingston, an attorney, is said to have a mere two wives. The woman who married in 2014 at age 16 and asked not to be identified is still with her husband. During his tenure, Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Snow and her mother, Shirley Hansen, have differing stories on what the moms role was in her daughters marriage. As he grew older, Stephen turned out to be as rebellious as his own father had been as a boy. During his tenure Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. Stephens father seemed to marry a new girl every year, each one younger and prettier than the last. ", "Girls in polygamous Kingston Group continue to marry as young as 15, records show, sometimes leaving Utah to marry cousins", "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Elden_Kingston&oldid=1136713473, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 19:29. The deputy heard the Brown boys knew who stole the gold but suddenly, without explanation, they and everyone in the clan clammed up. In summer, the kids swam in the reservoir as their mother, Richaun, watched, the boys doing back flips off the rope swing into the water; at night, as the sun set behind the mountains, they all sat together to watch the clans buffalo herd grazing in the pastures. Inseparable: Twins Peter (left) and Paul have lived. [10][11]. The bride was 16. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One crime had been solved but the chest of gold stolen from Patty Kingstons closet remained a mystery. The clan, known privately as the Order, runs what prosecutors believe is one of the largest organized-crime operations in Utah, overseeing its far-flung empire from a string of secret locations and backrooms. Rates of college attendance that meet or exceed the Utah average have been a point of pride in the Kingston Group, whose members have offered such statistics to counter the stereotype of children from polygamy, especially girls, being uneducated with no opportunity for self-improvement. Her husband knew she didnt want him to have a plural spouse, she said, but his father told him he needed to have one. Home. She is the fifth of her mothers 12 children. Youd show up for a welfare call, or a domestic-abuse call, and it was just real run-down.. 1 choice [of whom to marry] in The Order, Jessica Kingston said. It is a common and intentional practice in the Order to require girls and women to submit sexually to their husbands even if the sexual submission is against their will because having children results in workers for the benefit of the Order, the lawsuit states. Chuck Lepper, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said that no review is planned at this time. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. When he was three, his mother led him into a building controlled by the clan and pointed out an intense man lifting weights in the gym. She received no sex education or premarital counseling. He then pinned her on a bed, the documents say, and wouldnt let her call for help. The other seven are brothers or sons of Paul Kingston. While much of the focus of any polygamous group is on plural marriages that happen outside the law, records and interviews with current and former first wives in the Kington Group lend insight into how legal marriages are facilitated. Church leader Paul Kingston conducted the service and his brothers John Daniel and David were speakers. Fortunately, our population has already attained a higher graduation rate for high school and associates degrees for men and women in the DCCS. Instead, she volunteered for extra shifts at the Kingston Group-run coal mine near Huntington, where she worked as a dispatcher. Paul J. Kingston Sr., 93, of North Huntingdon, died Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. The ones that misbehave, they try to push them to marry as soon as they can, Hansen said. She didnt want to be in that house anymore; it reminded her of my brother. To test her devotion, Stephens father began calling her in the middle of the night and telling her to move the family to a new location. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group. They had 4 children: John Hozlette Kingston and 3 other children. In an analysis written in 2015, a University of Maryland sociologist found that nationwide 37 percent of people who marry before age 20 divorce in the first 10 years. He became obsessed with homeopathic treatments and herbal remedies, teaching followers that through proper diet they could live to the age of a tree. When lightning struck a tree at the Home Place, he taught his followers that the tree had divine powers and was a gateway to heaven. The lawsuit does not allege any wrongdoing by SLCC. Every now and then, as hes driving around the ranch, his phone will ring. Hansen said some men try to use their children to improve their status in the sect. Come and get me, Stephen said. Their grooms were 22. Theyre trying to paint a picture, Markey said, give the judge and, frankly, the defendants, when they see the complaint, give them the context, which is to the effect, We know what's up. I love the Order. Jessicas father relented during the meeting and gave his approval for his daughter to marry her No. Regardless, all those applying should do so legally.. He no longer believed in the Order, but he knew that leaving would mean being shunned by his own family, and because he had been forbidden from making friends outside the clan, there would be few people in the world he could turn to. By our latest survey, his statement said, the majority of DCCS college students were not using government-funded financial aid, including many who would qualify if they had applied. Viewers Can Watch Prince Harry Talk to a Trauma Expert for $33.09 The jury in Alex Murdaugh's high-profile murder trial will visit the scene where his wife Maggie and son Paul were brutally murdered, before they decide the disgraced legal scion's fate.. Former members estimate Paul has 30 wives and more than 50 children. He kept his office on a side street in central Salt Lake. The grift was exposed decades later, in the 1980s, when the clan paid a $350,000 settlement for swindling the government through welfare fraud. He also shared his brothers fascination with herbs and natural medicine. While the sect is headquartered in Utah, members will travel to Colorado to wed because cousin marriages are legal there. It felt like it was us against the world. His older brother Richard, a burly diesel mechanic, taught him how to fix cars. Its his father, the prophet, calling to coax his wayward son back into the fold. Everyone knows it., After the gold disappeared, the Knight brothers suddenly seemed to have a lot of money especially for young men on their own in the world for the first time. Another brother, Ben, showed him how to mend fences. He told the children they would all be applying for financial aid, enrolling at SLCC and majoring in business administration, the lawsuit cites Mafi as saying. If someone is mature enough, they should be able to do whatever they want.. We dont expect any of the claims to prevail in a court of law.. But because they were the sons of the prophet, they got away with it., Stephen vehemently denies that he or his brothers had anything to do with the heist. Once the couples signed the certificates and turned them back in to the Mesa County clerk, they were legally married. He finished a three-year term as Chair of the Department of Sociology in August 2007. Then one night, a clan member called and told him that the Order planned to kill him. In a search of public records created since the start of 1997, The Salt Lake Tribune found 65 marriages among members of the Kingston Group in which the bride was 15, 16 or 17. Nor are youths from polygamous sects the only teens who marry in Utah. Snow says she chose to get married to escape an abusive living situation. DeRieuxs marriage effectively ended in June 2010. LDS Church wants to light up a temple in a place that prides itself on dark skies, For husband-and-wife team, this new restaurant is the culmination of a decadeslong dream, offered such statistics to counter the stereotype, Nicole Mafi, one of Paul Kingstons daughters. A lawyer and an accountant by trade, Stephens father hardly looked like the sort of man who could command the unquestioned loyalty of thousands of followers. At 17, she agreed to marry a man in his early 20s. Members of The Order are taught they need to be in a plural marriage to reach the highest heaven. 180+ Jonathan Jacob Meijer View Site Google Maps Shanell DeRieux was married at 18 to a husband in the Kingston Group. All I like to do is work on cars and hang out with friends and ride my ponies, he wrote one night on his MySpace page. [4] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. Boys as young as 14 labored in the workshop. It empowered Stephen before that, no one had ever stood up to Daniel Kingston or any of them, says a former member. In Utah, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, plans a bill that would raise the minimum marriage age to 18. She grew up in Woods Cross and hated The Order all her life, she said in a recent interview. Thanks for your understanding. Mary Nelson grew up in the sect and names her father, David Kingston, as a defendant. Some children are born blind, others with missing fingernails or undersize heads. Genealogy profile for Paul Kingston Paul Kingston (1824 - 1894) - Genealogy Genealogy for Paul Kingston (1824 - 1894) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. A copy of the lawsuit also is available there, though no other filings in the case are. On weekends, he was sent out to work at the Orders coal mine with other teenagers. The DCCS reaffirms that each individual has their free agency to choose whom and when they will marry, the statement said. The Knight brothers werent afraid to fight, or to stand up to authority. Brothers John Daniel Kingston, the father of the girl now in state custody, is said to have 20 wives; the mother of the "M.N." is half sister. Hansen, 50, in a recent interview, said she told her daughter that wanting to leave home was the wrong reason to get married. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. Jessica saw the list. . (Photo courtesy of Kollene Snow) Kollene Snow, 16, poses in her dress before her 2009 marriage in West Valley City. They teach the girls its their choice, Hansen said, but [say], Heres the selection.. He also had dozens of children a brood that would eventually grow to around 300 and he had a hard time telling them apart. The boys also bought cigarettes wholesale through a small clan-owned market run by their older brother and sold them at school. However, Grant claims she endured years of sexual abuse by a half-brother as a child. This is nothing more than a continued attempt in a long history to keep DCCS members from accessing education and services every other U.S. citizen is legally entitled to. They had sped off in a Honda sedan. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. Unable to visit his mother, Stephen would leave a $100 bill in her mailbox or, with his brothers, buy her new furniture. Jessica suspects her dad was pushing her toward another man. They did it, says Christian Kingston. She said her father didnt think the suitor was a good student. As time passed, his dogma became even stranger. Girls who reach their mid- and late teens can start to feel the pressure to wed. Jessica Kingston said when word gets out that a boy or young man has asked a girls father for permission to marry her, friends and family are walking up to that girl asking, Did you pray about him?. Matt Gaetz Called Out for Citing Chinese Propaganda in Hearing According to people who have left the Order, the cult exploits its 2,000 members as virtual slave labor and hides profits from tax collectors. That daughter was born with a form of heart disease and had long acted responsibly in caring for it, Hansen said. Child trafficking is the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation (Erase Child Trafficking). Later that afternoon, in another house across town belonging to the Order, a woman named Patty Kingston opened her closet to discover that a chest of gold coins worth as much as $5 million had vanished. [9], Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. Those in the Order, Kingston preached, are responsible for building a master race, which is why all marriages are arranged within the original four families that started the cult. "A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. But 16- and 17-year-olds in Utah need only the consent of a parent to wed. Idaho, Colorado and Nevada, where the The Tribune also found Kingston Group marriages, have similar age and parental-consent requirements. There, stacked on the concrete floor, were crates filled with bars of silver. The accusers also claim that the group arranged child marriages so that girls would become pregnant and beholden to their husbands and the religious sect. 210 King Sobhuza II: King of Swaziland (now Eswatini), lived 1899-1982, is thought to have had 70 wives. They also knew that much of the clans wealth was stashed inside the unassuming suburban house on the corner. Girls who agree to become plural wives tend to be more devout and usually live in homes without their husband, thus receiving less scrutiny. But we paid it all back.. What he told me was, Hansen said, Get her married so we dont have to take care of her anymore.. That includes the fraud within Washakie Renewable Energy as well as what the plaintiffs allege was a separate scheme by sect members to bilk a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to provide free lunches to child and adult day cares. Snow said she was forced to fast, pray and read the Bible. It was also around then that Stephen, at the age of 14, began to see the clan for what it really was. Comparable graduation rates have been attained by our bachelors and advanced degree students when compared to the state of Utah and the U.S., despite an uphill battle of active discrimination against our students. Mrs. The relations are distant enough they wouldnt encounter any of Utahs prohibitions on marriage between siblings, first cousins or aunts/nephews and uncles/nieces. Look around, Stephen says. He had yet to lose his hair, and thanks to his fanatical devotion to healthy food and alternative medicine, he had the ropy build of a well-toned athlete. His life was in danger, the voice on the other end warned. The couple have since divorced. Prior to 2017, Kingston was Professor of Sociology, and by courtesy, Professor in the Curry School of Education. Girls are told they will need to pray to God so he might show them who their No. She, in turn, wrote a letter to the judge on their behalf, and the case was settled without a trial. Not every Kingston Group follower marries as a juvenile. All of their children who survived the Great Famine emigrated. DeRieux did marry the next year at age 18 to a cousin who was 19. Each time turning up no significant violations or nothing at all. Shortly after that meeting, the complaint continues, Mrs. Then, moving quickly, the boy at the door let himself in and got to work. During his tenure, some members have continued the practice of plural, and intra-family marriage,[3] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group. For this article we will focus on forced child labor in the context of modern day slavery that takes place in the Kingston polygamous group. If the case succeeds, the whistleblowers can collect perhaps millions of dollars from the damages or fines paid by the defendants. Hanging up the phone, she rushed to her closet. When a girl doesnt want to be a polygamist, that information is shared among boys and men in the sect. In the past, we have worked closely with DWS, DOE and financial aid counselors at local colleges and universities to ensure proper training and that all applications adhere to every guideline. Some former teenage Kingston Group brides acknowledge they werent forced to marry; they made a choice. One day, for laughs, he and his half brother Ron Tucker stole some napalm from an Order army-supply store, drew lines of it in the street and lit it on fire as cars drove by. One of the Orders leaders did jail time for severely beating his own daughter after she fled an arranged marriage to his brother. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. I dont really have too many friends, but the ones I do, I wouldnt trade for anything., Among Stephens friends were two of his cousins, Luke and Scott Brown. Others say they buried it out in the desert and are slowly cashing it out. Short and chubby, the Brown boys looked up to the Knight brothers. To cope with the disorientation and loneliness of leaving one world for another, many turn to drugs. Members who have left in recent years say that changed after some of Paul Kingston's brothers were convicted of. Paul, a grandson of the group's founder, has 27 wives and more than 300 children, Mary said. Stephen calmly waited until his uncle got close, and then he reached behind the seat and pulled out a shotgun, leveling it at his uncle. Snow said the classes also taught the girls to be submissive to their husbands and to keep a good house for them. 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