These days Stephen works on a cattle ranch near the Idaho border, just down the road from where he grew up. Former sect members testified in favor of the measure, but its unclear whether the pressures faced by teens in the Kingston Group constitute forced marriage. 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 lawsuit alleges leaders of a Utah polygamous sect bilked federal student aid programs by instructing teenagers to omit their fathers and other sources of income when applying for benefits. 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. 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. A husband and wife died while on a fishing trip after falling through thin ice in the region. The bride was 16. If the father believes his son received true direction from God, the son is sent to Paul Kingston or one of the people he designates to consider marriages. They belonged to the Order and had toiled in the cult for years. Paul, a grandson of the group's founder, has 27 wives and more than 300 children, Mary said. Donate to the newsroom now. Intermarriage of close. Or wed set traps and raise them as pets., In many ways it was an idyllic childhood, except for the fact that the ranch also doubled as a work camp for disobedient clan wives and rebellious kids. Complete statement from Davis County Cooperative Society: For decades, the DCCS has encouraged its members to be well-educated, well-informed, independent thinkers. Paul Vallas' Net Worth In 2023 Explored. Not every Kingston Group follower marries as a juvenile. It was all fun, Stephen recalls. 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. Child trafficking is the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation (Erase Child Trafficking). 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. They also knew that much of the clans wealth was stashed inside the unassuming suburban house on the corner. Paul Kingston, they said, has 17 wives and nearly 50 children. He and Carl are members of the Utah State Bar, despite signing state oaths agreeing to uphold the Utah Constitution, which specifically outlaws polygamy. You better check on your gold, Young told her. A sheriffs deputy traced the license plate of the Honda to a run-down house in a working-class suburb south of the city. Current members dispute those characterizations. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? Frances was born on November 4 1892, in Indiana. The Tribune also found three marriages in Missouri, where, until a new law raising the marriage age takes effect Aug. 28, 15-year-olds can marry with a parents permission. From Hansens perspective, the entire Kingston Group marriage process is like being told you can have anything to eat as long as it comes from a certain table. The plaintiffs also contend these eight defendants have significant wealth acquired through the money and labor followers contribute to the Kingston Group and the rent the defendants charge their wives. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. Stoddard was the president of the Latter Day Church of Christ, the Kingston Groups incorporated religious organization. She, in turn, wrote a letter to the judge on their behalf, and the case was settled without a trial. In its place, someone had left a note. We want to hear it. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. Many of these men are also given stewardship of the Orders business holdings sent out to run the clans coal mine or ranches, or to oversee one of its many storefronts. 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. According to former Order members, they worked long shifts sorting coal and operating heavy machinery in unsafe conditions. At first, the two boys denied any involvement in the break-in at Youngs house. The roof sagged, the carpet was worn, and the place reeked of cheap cologne. Paul E. Kingston, considered the top man, signed as a witness for four of the marriages that The Tribune found outside Utah. If the father believes his son received true direction from God, the son is sent to Paul Kingston or one of the people he designates to consider marriages. Colbert Reimagines Disney Park as 'De-Wokeified' DeSantis World, Sex, Drugs, and the Biggest Cybercrime of All Time, I could boil down what theyre about in three words, says a member who broke with the Order. Later the Order reportedly bought slot machines from mob-controlled companies. (Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) He also preached a bizarre extrapolation of the Book of Mormon called the White Horse Prophecy, a dreaded prediction of a cataclysmic time when the black race will rise up and attempt to destroy the white man, only to be thwarted by Native Americans riding to the rescue. 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. This article appears in the June 23, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone. The son of the clans prophet, Knight, then 18, had once seemed destined for a leadership role within the Order. Finding one wasnt difficult. Nevertheless, waves of audits of State taxes, Federal taxes, corporate taxes, DWS, SNAP, WIC and regulatory compliance in day cares among other things, have been levied against individuals and corporations with known or suspected ties to the DCCS. Knight was born in Salt Lake City, the sixth child of third-generation polygamists. She said the marriage disintegrated when her husband married spiritually one of her half-sisters, who was 22 at the time. She was 68. A recent estimate is that he has 34 wives and more than 500 children, as several of his wives have had as many as 16 children each! It didnt take long for them to break down and confess that they had robbed their aunt. Regardless, all those applying should do so legally.. The land had once been home to the Washakie Indians, and as children, Stephen and his 15 full brothers and sisters played among the wind-swept ruins of a Native American cemetery. 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. We really know what your game is.. Earlier in its history, the Kingston Group had plural wives under age 18. Some former teenage Kingston Group brides acknowledge they werent forced to marry; they made a choice. My 4-year-old comes to me and says she has to find out her No. Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. I am in love with old cars and horses. While some despised Ben for his apostasy and refused to speak with him, Stephen had remained in touch with his brother. The "9" represents his status as a "numbered man" in the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. My mom was never the same. The couples divorce became final in 2011. 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. In the kitchen, he opened a closet and popped a hatch in the floor that led down to a dark, musty basement. 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. Mary Nelson grew up in the sect and names her father, David Kingston, as a defendant. Andrea Johnson was buried on June 13, 1992, at the Bountiful Memorial Park. Photo Credit: Sullivan County Sheriff's Office. Alex's wife and son, Maggie and Paul, were shot to death at their home in 2021, and Alex is currently on trial for their murders.. A nationwide debate is underway about teens, especially girls, marrying. Donate to the newsroom now. Viewers Can Watch Prince Harry Talk to a Trauma Expert for $33.09 No evidence directly linked him to the missing gold or silver, but his father was convinced he had played a part in the thefts. Paul Kingston is one of eight men named as defendants in the lawsuit. Former members estimate Paul has 30 wives and more than 50 children. Mark Shurtleff, the Utah attorney general, has spent years investigating the clan, gathering birth certificates and genealogical data, and has come to believe that the cult is guilty of a long list of crimes, including child labor, tax evasion, welfare fraud, polygamy and the sanctioning of underage marriages to blood relatives. Two are nieces. Over the years, the Order has armed itself to ward off rivals, and once stalked and intimidated a judge who was meddling in the clans affairs. Jacob's dad, John Kingston, husband of at least 14 wives and father to some 120 children, was imprisoned in 1998 after pleading no contest to charges that he beat his 16-year-old daughter . To get out of this s----y situation, I have to get into another s----y situation, said Kollene Snow, who married at 16 and is DeRieuxs full sister. There, stacked on the concrete floor, were crates filled with bars of silver. Snow and her mother, Shirley Hansen, have differing stories on what the moms role was in her daughters marriage. Kent Johnson, a spokesman for the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS), which also is named as a defendant, said members are strongly encouraged to strictly adhere to every legal guideline when applying for financial aid. When a girl doesnt want to be a polygamist, that information is shared among boys and men in the sect. The Order stays as far away as possible from police, and this was like inviting them in your front door., With its vast wealth suddenly exposed to public view, the clan moved quickly to hush up the scandal. In the months after the robbery, Stephen couldnt shake the feeling he was being watched. Shanell DeRieux was married at 18 to a husband in the Kingston Group. That daughter was born with a form of heart disease and had long acted responsibly in caring for it, Hansen said. Because of the clans distrust of banks, the Order had cash hidden all over the place, a poorly kept secret within the family. John Gustafson, a representative of the Davis County Cooperative Society, an affiliate of the Kingston Group, disputed the lawsuits claims. I dont think theyre organized crime in that regard, but the racketeering statute defines it as any conspiracy or pattern of illegal activity done in concert with others. The incident took place in Sullivan County around 8:15 p.m., Monday, Feb. 27 in the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. Sometimes his father read the Book of Mormon from the pulpit and talked about things regular Christians would recognize, like tithing or repentance. The Order was founded by Elden Kingston, Stephens grand-uncle, at the height of the Great Depression. I could tell she loved him, and it seemed like he loved her too. Within a year, Paul Kingston would take a fourth wife. Kingston's death came 3 weeks after his legal wife, Luana Joan Kingston, died of breast cancer, according to her obituary. Members are primarily born into the. Messages sent to Paul and David Kingston as well as representatives of the Latter Day Church of Christ, the Kingston Groups religious organization, and other named defendants in the lawsuit were not returned. Sometimes he parked his immaculately buffed burgundy Ford Thunderbird on the curb, but it was rare to see the man himself. But he hopes that one day his family will be able to forgive him for leaving them behind. That wasnt the only reason Jessica liked him. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. He died on 6-4-1998 at the Beckley Veterans Administration. If you messed with one of them, you were messing with them all., When Stephen was nine, an accident at Washakie set in motion a chain of events that would eventually prompt him to leave the cult. presided, while Richauns father officiated the wedding, promising the bride that if she obeyed her husband, she would be guaranteed a spot in the Celestial Kingdom, the highest level of heaven. DeRieux remarried at age 21 to a man who isnt from the Kingston Group. took great pains to never show his wealth and taught his followers to do the same. Within the clan, the pieces started to add up. It begins with the potential groom. Fortunately, our population has already attained a higher graduation rate for high school and associates degrees for men and women in the DCCS. At age 15, Snow wanted out of the Kingston Group. DeRieux says the other two girls were her half-sisters, both age 16. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake Community College Redwood Road campus is pictured Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. They had eight children whose baptisms are recorded in the same church. No one would accept the guilty by association view in any other culture that has been adopted by the public for ours. Jessica Kingston wore a white dress. Others say they buried it out in the desert and are slowly cashing it out. View Site Some former sect members, including two stars of the television show Escaping Polygamy," say girls are pressured to marry at the age most kids are learning to drive and reading Wuthering Heights.. She and her husband had moved to Billings, Mont., to work for a coal mine. was just as frugal as his brother he lived in a dilapidated shack with planks missing from the porch but he had a better head for business. Among those Kingston Group brides who marry as minors and for whom The Tribune was able to find birthdates, the average age was 16 years, 7 months and 12 days. During his tenure Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. It was February in Salt Lake, cold and gray, and in the foothills above the city, a low fog hung over the mountains. From the outside it seemed like a typical suburban home, offering few clues of the secrets that were contained inside. He also had dozens of children a brood that would eventually grow to around 300 and he had a hard time telling them apart. Paul married Frances G Chez Kingston. He trained the women how to rip off the government, a scheme the Order called Bleeding the Beast. But it is likely that Kingston could recognize some of himself in Stephen. Investigators have said 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh was shot four or five times with a rifle, while 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh was killed by two shotgun blasts near kennels on the family's . deductible, Report a missed paper by emailingsubscribe@sltrib.comor calling801-237-2900, For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support801-237-2900or emailsubscribe@sltrib.com. They would trek into state welfare offices, their kids in tow, claiming that they had no idea who the father of their children was, or that he was a truck driver who had left them destitute. Mrs. Cousin Carl E. Kingston, an attorney, is said to have a mere two wives. That usually means marrying a Kingston descendant. But we paid it all back.. But within the Order, where drinking soda pop was against the rules, it was a pretty big deal.. But the more the deputy pressed, the more their stories didnt add up. (Paul Kingston and other leaders of the family ignored repeated requests for comment for this story. Stephen didnt know what the law said he only knew that the people he loved were being abused and exploited by his own father. During the approval process, the young man had begun texting Jessica something forbidden but that she says is common among Order teens who have an interest in one another. The couple have since divorced. She also felt a religious call to wed and saw herself as mature enough to undertake such a commitment.