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. On February 26th, 2009, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office got a call of suspicious activity in the foothills above the city. If you were more obedient, this wouldnt have happened., After that, everything changed, Stephen says. While his dad was running the order from Salt Lake City, Stephen grew up on a cattle ranch called Washakie, near the Idaho border. Sometimes he parked his immaculately buffed burgundy Ford Thunderbird on the curb, but it was rare to see the man himself. I could tell she loved him, and it seemed like he loved her too. Within a year, Paul Kingston would take a fourth wife. 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. Her father, John Daniel Kingston, has 14 wives. They seemed happy, Ron says. 1 choice [of whom to marry] in The Order, Jessica Kingston said. 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. My 4-year-old comes to me and says she has to find out her No. Jessica Kingston said a girls devotion and attitude are often measured by her view of polygamy. He even had charts showing who were the higher families in the sect so his daughters knew where to look for a mate. Boys are taught that the prophet demands absolute loyalty and that they should be prepared to defend the clan. (Paul W. Kingston, (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1980) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Virginia. Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune. Paul Elden Kingston is an accountant and attorney who has served as the Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS), a Mormon fundamentalist denomination,[2] since 1987. But mostly he talked about the history of the Order and his ancestors, the men who had started the clan. She and her husband had four children with whom they share custody. Snow said her marriage fell apart over her not liking the Kingston Group and her husband wanting to have another wife. The plaintiffs estimate the eight combine to have 106 wives. The education figures he cited would be a few percentage points higher than the average for Utah as a whole, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Jessica is hardly the only girl to make such a choice. 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. (Photo courtesy Shanell DeRieux) Shanell DeRieux, then called Shanell Snow, center, stands with her mother, Shirley Hansen, right, and her father, John Daniel Kingston, in this photo from her legal wedding day, July 3, 2008, in Grand Junction, Colo. Also pictured are DeRiux's now-ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law. No recordings or photos were allowed during the ceremony. 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. For more than a decade, the group has publicly spoken out against child-bride marriages and the DCCS has a policy encouraging its members to marry within the legal age of consent. Hansen, 50, in a recent interview, said she told her daughter that wanting to leave home was the wrong reason to get married. Her top choice the one whom she felt God told her to marry was a man five years older than she and to whom she was related on both sides of her family tree. 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). The Kingston Group is believed to have a few thousand members, mostly in Utah and Idaho. If Paul Kingston or the designee signs off, the groom next goes to the girls father. The suit says sect members might have obtained tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars through false applications. Paul Vallas' Net Worth In 2023 Explored. He became particularly obsessed with a plant called comfrey, which he believed would protect his clan from the nuclear war that would usher in the apocalypse. The group has drawn legal attention before. Paul passed away on month day 1973, at age 92 at death place, Oregon. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Jessicas dad told her the wife can get only as high as her husband rises. Over 75 years, the Kingstons have amassed a fortune worth an estimated $300 million, but the operation skirts the edges of the law. Child trafficking is the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation (Erase Child Trafficking). Her husband knew she didnt want him to have a plural spouse, she said, but his father told him he needed to have one. If God gives him direction on whom to marry, he goes to his dad. The accusers describe a patriarchal doctrine known as The Law of One Above Another, which they claim designates everyone a rank in the groups hierarchy. 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. It was a grimy, derelict-looking place. In 2006 it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 40 wives (including two half-sisters of his), some of whom have up . The marriages, former followers say, can be used as a tool to keep girls in the Kingston Group, known among younger members as The Order. For their part, the brides sometimes see legal marriages as a way to avoid becoming polygamists later (and consequently being matched with a husband perhaps twice their age) or a means to escape their parents crowded households. Do you think if I took $5 million in gold, Id be working out here?. Polygamist John Daniel Kingston, left, in attendance at a memorial for the 13 (and one still missing) victims of a Sept. 14, 2015, flash flood. 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. Knight was born in Salt Lake City, the sixth child of third-generation polygamists. 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. Stephen moved in with his brother. DeRieux remarried at age 21 to a man who isnt from the Kingston Group. One of the Orders leaders did jail time for severely beating his own daughter after she fled an arranged marriage to his brother. The clan is lead today by Charles E. Kingston's son, Paul E. Kingston, who is said to have more than 30 wives. The couples wedding certificate says Stoddard officiated the ceremony April 26, 2008, in West Valley City. Youd show up for a welfare call, or a domestic-abuse call, and it was just real run-down.. Home. 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. Only the inner circle knew the hoard even existed, says Christian Kingston, a former Order member. Eventually, Stephen was sent back to Washakie and was placed under the supervision of his uncle, one of the familys most feared enforcers. 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. In its place, someone had left a note. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Thanks for your understanding. If you knew where to look and the Knight boys did it was easy to find. In his teens, Stephen and five of his half brothers stole $4,000 from their father. Now, former members say, girls who will be plural wives meaning they have only a spiritual marriage to their husband are left alone until they are 18 so laws about sex with a minor wont apply. 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. When Stephen was a boy, the clan would gather for the New Year in a warehouse in the city for its annual ritual: the numbering of the men. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. In the kitchen, he opened a closet and popped a hatch in the floor that led down to a dark, musty basement. Paul Valls's wife is Sharon Vallas. By the time the teenagers sped away, they had made off with more than $80,000 in silver. 'I am the daughter of his fifth. He lived on month day 1940, at address, Washington. Three others, including Grant, said they had to flee to escape such a fate. Its unclear how much if any investigating has happened in the almost seven months since the lawsuit was filed. At 15, Snow ran away from home, wound up in a foster home and later was returned to her mother. September 1, 2018. 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. "A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. They had sped off in a Honda sedan. 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. 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. It was all just innocent teenage stuff, recalls Ron, who has since left the clan. They are paid not in cash but in scrip, an arcane form of credit used by the Mormon pioneers that can only be redeemed at company stores. If they are money-laundering or making money in support of polygamy and incest, then they probably meet the statute.. 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. 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. We dont expect any of the claims to prevail in a court of law.. 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. They had eight children whose baptisms are recorded in the same church. Luke Brown now insists that he and his brother simply borrowed the silver, and planned to return it to their aunt later. 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. J.O. His followers erected a crude stone cross nearby in his honor, covered with inscriptions of the letter K (for Kingdom or Kingston). Earlier in its history, the Kingston Group had plural wives under age 18. That wasnt the only reason Jessica liked him. All rights reserved. A few days later, the groom-to-be picked up Jessica and took her to Murray Park. Jessica as well as Snow, DeRieux and Hansen all favor raising the legal marriage age in Utah and other states to 18. 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. All of their children who survived the Great Famine emigrated. As the first of Paul Kingstons many wives, Patty enjoyed a privileged role in the Order including access to vast wealth. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. 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. It was all fun, Stephen recalls. According to All Famous Birthdays, Paul Vallas has a staggering net worth of $5 million. The families of 19-year-old Stephen Smith who was rumored to be . Intermarriage of close. Attorneys for the Nelsons and Michaels also did not return messages seeking comments. But age alone wont determine her answer. Dating or romance among young people before marriage is forbidden in the Kingston Group, but the sect does hold dances. Nor are youths from polygamous sects the only teens who marry in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax For that, she would have to be legally married to him. Paul Elden Kingston: Paul Kingston is the leader of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Kingston Clan or The Order in Utah. She grew up in Woods Cross and hated The Order all her life, she said in a recent interview. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. Former members of the sect say there may be dozens or even hundreds more marriage certificates at county clerk offices across the West. All the families belong to the Davis County Cooperative Society. With the Orders leaders taking so many wives for themselves, the clans younger men were often unable to find anyone to marry. 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. Money, sex and power. 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. Its a quiet, haunting place, with massive hayfields that stretch to the horizon. As a favored son of the prophet, Paul had the freedom to disregard the strict discipline his father imposed on other members of the Order. He slept with a different one each night, in accordance with their ovulation cycles, and sometimes disappeared during lunch to have sex with a favorite. 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. She wasnt allowed to leave the house until she decided whom to marry. J.O. 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. Three of Kingston's 14 wives also are in the photo. Girls are told they will need to pray to God so he might show them who their No. If that child comes to her at age 16 wanting to marry, she said, she will have questions. 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.. Women, meanwhile, allegedly gain status by being pure of blood and obedient, becoming the first wives of higher-ranking numbered men, and bearing many children. Paul Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the leader of the Kingston Clan on his father's death in 1987. Each time turning up no significant violations or nothing at all. Their father rarely came by, and because the nearest town was 18 miles away, the kids forged a fierce bond among themselves. 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?. One crime had been solved but the chest of gold stolen from Patty Kingstons closet remained a mystery. A week later, the two were profiled on the CBS program Whistleblower for their work in exposing fraud at Washakie Renewable Energy, the biofuel company operated by two of Mary Nelsons first cousins. Regardless, all those applying should do so legally. The grift was exposed decades later, in the 1980s, when the clan paid a $350,000 settlement for swindling the government through welfare fraud. Much of what we have reviewed appears frivolous and unfounded, Gustafson said in an emailed statement. She was definitely the pick of the litter, and thats why Paul got her, Ron recalls. Hopefully, the politician is leading a comfortable . Jessica said her husband was on a group text that went around listing girls or women who had not yet married with jokes about how old the females were getting. By 18 she was pregnant with her first child and ended up having four children in four years. As he grew older, Stephen turned out to be as rebellious as his own father had been. Her own father David Kingston has 18 wives and around 200 kids. Jessica Kingston wore a white dress. 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. We were off on our own out there and really close, Stephen says. It didnt take long for them to break down and confess that they had robbed their aunt. They sat there for a moment, warming their hands against the sputtering heater. Whether she gives her blessing, she said, will depend on the answers to those questions. Look around, Stephen says. It begins with the potential groom. His life was in danger, the voice on the other end warned. 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. Girls, many of them teen brides, answer phones at the Orders law office, bag groceries at its supermarket or tend to the clans many children. We really know what your game is.. Incest is endemic in the clan, with uncles marrying much younger female relatives; in 2003, police showed up at an Order barbecue and arrested a clan member for marrying his underage cousin. Members of The Order are taught they need to be in a plural marriage to reach the highest heaven. A state court website says the judge must conclude that the marriage is voluntary and in the best interests of the minor.. The . 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. Over the next several years, Stephen bounced from the suburbs of Salt Lake to the clans ranch in Nevada. If you would like the full family tree and I feel your request is legitimate I will email it to you. 03/01/2023 9:00 a.m. Police divers cut a path through the ice to reach the victims. Come back, his dad will say. They believe were Gods chosen people, Snow said of the Kingston Group followers, so you should start having kids as soon as possible.. No one would accept the guilty by association view in any other culture that has been adopted by the public for ours. They and Mafi also accuse a sect-affiliated tax preparer of falsifying tax returns for Kingston Group members to report lower incomes, partly to boost student financial aid. Older teenagers were crammed five and six to a room, sleeping on the floors of trailers. 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. And they avoid the police, opting to handle any disputes in their own brutal manner. A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. The plaintiffs argue a plan to defraud such well-known student aid benefits as Pell Grants and the Ford and Perkins loans began in 2004 or 2005. 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. During his tenure, Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. Unable to visit his mother, Stephen would leave a $100 bill in her mailbox or, with his brothers, buy her new furniture. Belong to the girls father warming their hands against the sputtering heater is in. Dad told her the wife can get only as high as her husband had four children with they. The almost seven months since the lawsuit was filed West Valley City February 26th, 2009 the... 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