In Utah, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, plans a bill that would raise the minimum marriage age to 18. The couples divorce became final in 2011. The families of 19-year-old Stephen Smith who was rumored to be . One baby deemed to have too many deformities was allegedly put in a shoe box and left to die. Women and girls, after theyre married, submit to their husbands and men answer to higher-ranked men, the suit alleges. [4] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake Community College Redwood Road campus is pictured Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. Paul Vallas and wife Sharon have been together 38 years. It wasnt like we thought about it a lot. 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. Paul Elden Kingston (1959- ): Known as the "Watchman on the Wall" who claims to hear from God regularly, Paul is the son of John Ortell. 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. Stephen hangs up and drives home in silence. Jessica has begun working with Hope After Polygamy, a charity started by the cast of Escaping Polygamy and other former Kingston Group members to assist people leaving polygamous sects. You could be such an asset to the Order., Trending For Stephen and the other kids on the ranch, the highlight of each week came on Sundays, when they traveled the hour and a half south to Salt Lake for church. Unable to visit his mother, Stephen would leave a $100 bill in her mailbox or, with his brothers, buy her new furniture. Thanks, it read. Its a quiet, haunting place, with massive hayfields that stretch to the horizon. Stoddard was the president of the Latter Day Church of Christ, the Kingston Groups incorporated religious organization. Its who I am., To keep the police from prying into the matter any further, the clan also hired a private investigator to track down the missing gold. 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. [5][6][7][8] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. Stephens father seemed to marry a new girl every year, each one younger and prettier than the last. The . 210 King Sobhuza II: King of Swaziland (now Eswatini), lived 1899-1982, is thought to have had 70 wives. He trained the women how to rip off the government, a scheme the Order called Bleeding the Beast. He was angry and confused, says a former member of the cult. Thats when Nicole Mafi, one of Paul Kingstons daughters, says in the lawsuit she was called into a meeting of recent high school graduates to discuss going to college. The clan is lead today by Charles E. Kingston's son, Paul E. Kingston, who is said to have more than 30 wives. Exhibiting LGBTQ+ tendencies can indicate impure blood, according to the lawsuit. She was instructed, the complaint adds, to deposit the excess funds at a South Salt Lake office building, where the sects bank is located. On February 26th, 2009, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office got a call of suspicious activity in the foothills above the city. Cousin Carl E. Kingston, an attorney, is said to have a mere two wives. And then, when the men get mad at each other, they wont let the [other] mans sons come forward to marry one of their daughters. The well-kept yellow house sat on the corner of a tidy cul-de-sac called South Bonner Circle surrounded by a black wrought-iron fence. He had arranged for a banner to be placed over a bridge there. Paul already had two wives, but he and Richaun were married in a secret ceremony at her parents house. They had eight children whose baptisms are recorded in the same church. 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. In 2006, it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 27 wives (including three half-sisters of his), [5] some . The third plaintiff is Michelle Michaels, who the complaint says left the sect in 2017 rather than become a spiritual wife to a cousin who has nine wives. 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! Three of his wives are his half-sisters. Hanging up the phone, she rushed to her closet. Everyone in the Order knew that she controlled the purse strings for the operation but few were aware that she was sitting on a hidden stash of silver. 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 . While some despised Ben for his apostasy and refused to speak with him, Stephen had remained in touch with his brother. 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. He has held several high-level positions in government and education and worked as a consultant, so he likely has earned a significant income over the years. The suit was filed against the groups leader Paul Eldon Kingston and 21 other members. Paul Kingston and his wife, Mary Kelly, were natives of Moinies (Meenies) townland, Drimoleague, Co. Cork, Ireland. Some people say they funneled the money through Mexico. Shortly after that meeting, the complaint continues, Mrs. 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. (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jessica Kingston was wed at age 16 in what she says was a marriage she felt pressured into by her parents and others in a polygamous sect. His followers erected a crude stone cross nearby in his honor, covered with inscriptions of the letter K (for Kingdom or Kingston). I knew I wasn't supposed to marry him, she said, but I almost did to get everyone to shut up and leave me alone about marriage.. But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. Once the couples signed the certificates and turned them back in to the Mesa County clerk, they were legally married. Romero has said her concern is for all girls, not just those in polygamous sects. Johnson said the Davis County Cooperative Society takes no position on the issue. Mafi recalls Paul Kingston telling the children who attended that meeting that The Order was going to be trying out something new, the lawsuit says. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. Shanell DeRieux was married at 18 to a husband in the Kingston Group. If the case succeeds, the whistleblowers can collect perhaps millions of dollars from the damages or fines paid by the defendants. When youre three years old, they start training you what to say if people talk to you, recalls Jeremy Tucker, a 32-year-old former member of the cult, who now works in construction. Fortunately, our population has already attained a higher graduation rate for high school and associates degrees for men and women in the DCCS. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The Kingston Group is not affiliated withthe Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) based on the Utah-Arizona line that is run by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered brides. For the marriages performed in Utah, Bill W. Stoddard signed as the officiant until his death in March. 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. That Stephens father sat atop a mafialike organization was a secret kept from him for most of his childhood. Regardless, all those applying should do so legally.. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune It was all just innocent teenage stuff, recalls Ron, who has since left the clan. Her husband, John Daniel Kingston, told his children to marry up, she said, meaning marry into a well-regarded family in the Kingston Group. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? A sheriffs deputy traced the license plate of the Honda to a run-down house in a working-class suburb south of the city. But Jessicas No. They were the type of kids you didnt mess with, says Robert Owen, a former member of the clan. At Washakie, he forced clan children to decapitate cows with chain saws to toughen them up, and sometimes beat the children for some infraction of the Orders rules like forgetting to face the Home Place three times a day and pray. Shortly after 10 p.m. on June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh called 911 from his property in Islandton, South Carolina, to report that he had found his 22-year-old son Paul and his wife Maggie, 55, murdered. It wasnt forced, said the woman, who asked not to be identified because of stigmas that often come with being associated with a polygamous sect. Snow said the classes also taught the girls to be submissive to their husbands and to keep a good house for them. [4], Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS, and members make their own choice in who they marry. After the boys were taken into custody, one of their first calls was to Stephen. Paul Kingston wore secondhand suits that hung off his slender shoulders, and he spoke in a flat, emotionless monotone. 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. 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. They should refrain from this decision until they can be well informed to make a mature and thoughtful decision before entering into marriage.. He asked him if he was being obedient, then excused himself to talk to Stephens mother. He also shared his brothers fascination with herbs and natural medicine. [9], He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 Children. The memorial was held in Maxwell Park in Hildale, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Former Order members remain convinced the Knights stole the gold. This is your fault, he thundered, glaring at them. After the chest of gold was stolen, suspicion among the clans leadership immediately fell on a group of rebellious teenagers who had left the cult a few years before. She said marrying at 16 mitigated the pressures U.S. society places on her to have statuesque looks and be immodest. 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. Their grooms averaged 20 years and 18 days. The Mormon Church officially banned polygamy in 1890, and some of the defiant bands of fundamentalists who refuse to give up the practice have been pushed out of the city and into the desert, where they eke out an existence in rusted-out trailers and sprawling compounds. For parents, there can be other practical considerations in letting a teen marry, Hansen said. Much of what we have reviewed appears frivolous and unfounded, Gustafson said in an emailed statement. This article appears in the June 23, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone. It was a wild place, says Scott Cosgrove, a former detective with the Box Elder County Sheriffs Office, who remembers the ranch as a broken-down spread, guarded by a feral pack of boys who patrolled the fence line from the back of a pickup armed with shotguns. Only the inner circle knew the hoard even existed, says Christian Kingston, a former Order member. Home. Those families have intermarried to the extent that half brothers and sisters are now marrying one another, as well as uncles. According to written histories, John Ortell Kingston, father of the current leader, also encouraged his family members to marry other kin to improve their own bloodline. It was also around then that Stephen, at the age of 14, began to see the clan for what it really was. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time So far, however, despite Shurtleffs efforts, the insular and highly secretive nature of the Order has prevented him from finding sufficient evidence to bring a case strong enough to dismantle the clan. Instead, she volunteered for extra shifts at the Kingston Group-run coal mine near Huntington, where she worked as a dispatcher. The teenagers sitting in the driveway on South Bonner Circle that afternoon in 2009 knew the operation well. He was usually off visiting one of his 30 or so wives, or checking on one of the clans many businesses, or in a backroom getting his muscles rubbed in preparation for one of his painful, 40-day fasts, a purification ritual that he endured in order to get closer to God. They seemed happy, Ron says. 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. ", "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. It includes a provision they obtain financial aid. In the kitchen, he opened a closet and popped a hatch in the floor that led down to a dark, musty basement. From the outside it seemed like a typical suburban home, offering few clues of the secrets that were contained inside. A few days later, the groom-to-be picked up Jessica and took her to Murray Park. Known variously as "Brother Paul," "the leader," and "the man on the watchtower" by Order members, this unremarkable, balding middle-aged man reportedly has 27 wives and over 300 children. 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. But he hopes that one day his family will be able to forgive him for leaving them behind. Because of the clans distrust of banks, the Order had cash hidden all over the place, a poorly kept secret within the family. One is a first cousin. While the Order preached strict abstinence to its children, forbidding even incidental contact between the sexes, there seemed to be no rules after marriage especially for the clans leaders. It felt like it was us against the world. His older brother Richard, a burly diesel mechanic, taught him how to fix cars. She said her father didnt think the suitor was a good student. Survivors include his wife, Debra Meeks Kingston, his father, Paul James Kingston, III of McKeesport, PA, children, Brandon E. Kingston & wife Janna of Vidalia, CA, Kevin Ely of Tyler, Jessica Ely of Paris, Phillip Briley of Oklahoma City, OK and Justin Briley & wife Cynthia of Paris, thirteen grandchildren along with two sisters and one brother. 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. DeRieux remarried at age 21 to a man who isnt from the Kingston Group. Former and current members of the Kingston Group say that kids are taught from a young age they one day will need to pray about whom to marry. Carolyn Yvonne Kingston was born in 1938 in Elmo, Utah, to Charles Elden Kingston, and his first wife Ethel Gustafson, so she was the daughter of the first prophet of the Kingston Clan. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. However, Grant claims she endured years of sexual abuse by a half-brother as a child. Their legal team includes a Boston law firm with expertise in qui tam lawsuits. I felt for his pulse, but he was already gone., That night, Paul Kingston arrived at the ranch. But lots of people in the sect are already descended from that family, Hansen said; thats why there are so many cousin marriages in the Kingston Group. He and Carl are members of the Utah State Bar, despite signing state oaths agreeing to uphold the Utah Constitution, which specifically outlaws polygamy. Directories Newly added. Sometimes his father read the Book of Mormon from the pulpit and talked about things regular Christians would recognize, like tithing or repentance. Within the clan, the pieces started to add up. Money, sex and power. He finished a three-year term as Chair of the Department of Sociology in August 2007. 180+ Jonathan Jacob Meijer View Site Google Maps The plaintiffs estimate the eight combine to have 106 wives. The theft of the silver bars from Rachel Youngs basement, they concluded, had been a copycat crime. She also felt a religious call to wed and saw herself as mature enough to undertake such a commitment. Five of the women suing alleged they were coerced into marriage as minors and raped by their husbands. A short, blustery man with a hair-trigger temper, Daniel Kingston had reportedly once kidnapped two boys at gunpoint and led them out to the Great Salt Lake (the charges were later dropped). We will continue to do so. We figured it was ours anyway, says Stephen, explaining that the clan hadnt paid the boys for bagging coal. Each time turning up no significant violations or nothing at all. Order girls are taught from birth that their primary purposes in life are to be obedient, a submissive wife, and to bear as many children as possible, the suit states. 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. The group sought to maintain Pure Kingston Blood by arranging marriages between cousins and other close relatives, and shunning relationships that werent between white people, the lawsuit alleges. Three of Kingston's 14 wives also are in the photo. Short and chubby, the Brown boys looked up to the Knight brothers. The lawsuit was filed May 24 in Salt Lake Citys federal court by Mary and Bryan Nelson. I strongly believe they are an organized-crime family, Shurtleff says. Father of Avisa Kingston; Susannah Mary Allison; Samuel Kingston and Paul Kingston. Luke and Scott often visited the home of one of their aunts, Rachel Young. He inherited the top leadership position in 1987. Members of a powerful polygamous group in Utah claim they were forced into underage marriages with their relatives to keep their blood pure, were raped by their husbands and had to perform child labor, according to a bombshell lawsuit. Kingston had told gaming regulators in California. Members who have left in recent years say that changed after some of Paul Kingston's brothers were convicted of. Eventually, there was a meeting between Jessica Kingston, her parents and Paul Kingston. He bragged that he had worn the same black shirt every day for a year. Carl Kingston is believed to have fathered 20 children from two wives and another child from a third wife who has left him. Terrified, he went out and bought a stash of guns to arm himself, just in case his family tried to gun him down. His most bizarre beliefs, though, concerned the occult. 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