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. Mysterious cars followed his girlfriend, and he once came home to find that someone had rifled through his drawers. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. He and Carl are members of the Utah State Bar, despite signing state oaths agreeing to uphold the Utah Constitution, which specifically outlaws polygamy. If the Order doesnt have it, the clan teaches, we dont need it., Editors picks Its a quiet, haunting place, with massive hayfields that stretch to the horizon. There are thousands of members in the group. Frances was born on November 4 1892, in Indiana. It wasnt like we thought about it a lot. Death: January 25, 1867 (75-76) Immediate Family: Husband of Lydia Kingston. Instead, he had walked away from the family three years earlier to make a life of his own. A statement from the only higher education institution mentioned in the lawsuit, Salt Lake Community College, said it has not received any subpoenas or inquiries. [4] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. This article related to the Latter Day Saint movement is a stub. 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. Knight was born in Salt Lake City, the sixth child of third-generation polygamists. 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. It was a grimy, derelict-looking place. Terrified, he went out and bought a stash of guns to arm himself, just in case his family tried to gun him down. According to Montana court documents, the couple had an argument at their apartment and DeRieuxs then-husband threw her down a flight of stairs. 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. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. He didnt have anyone to help him process what had just happened., Taking advantage of his status as a son of the prophet, Stephen began bending the rules even further. All rights reserved. (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. 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. He also shared his brothers fascination with herbs and natural medicine. The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then severed her index finger, cleaned off the three bones, and carried them with him the rest of his life, believing that the totem kept her spirit with him. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. 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. [10][11]. The lawsuit does not allege any wrongdoing by SLCC. Theyd keep it in basements, in filing cabinets, in a big safe in one of Pauls offices, says Levi Kingston, a former clan member. Pulling up, he noticed the getaway car parked in front of the house. Paul Kingston, they said, has 17 wives and nearly 50 children. During his tenure Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. Donate to the newsroom now. 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. She grew up in Woods Cross and hated The Order all her life, she said in a recent interview. Hansen said some men try to use their children to improve their status in the sect. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. Jeanne Markey, a partner at the Philadelphia law firm of Cohen Milstein and co-chair of a group there that handles cases of whistleblowers reporting fraud against the government, reviewed the complaint at the request of The Tribune. He even had charts showing who were the higher families in the sect so his daughters knew where to look for a mate. If the case succeeds, the whistleblowers can collect perhaps millions of dollars from the damages or fines paid by the defendants. When people hear organized crime, they think of mobsters. Yet its teen marriages in the Kingston Group that spurred the Utah Legislature to act this year. Johnson did not provide the raw data to support those statistics. If you were more obedient, this wouldnt have happened., After that, everything changed, Stephen says. 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. He is not ready to forgive his father. Kingston had told gaming regulators in California. 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. 210 King Sobhuza II: King of Swaziland (now Eswatini), lived 1899-1982, is thought to have had 70 wives. If they kill me, they kill me, he says. Boys are taught that the prophet demands absolute loyalty and that they should be prepared to defend the clan. Paul F Kingston. 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. Thanks for contacting us. Theyll do what they need to do to defend whats theirs.. That daughter was born with a form of heart disease and had long acted responsibly in caring for it, Hansen said. We will continue to do so. Fortunately, our population has already attained a higher graduation rate for high school and associates degrees for men and women in the DCCS. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. 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. Back then, Paul Kingston stood around five feet ten and weighed close to 200 pounds. Michaels and Mary Nelson describe similar experiences with their financial aid applications and awards. The lawsuit was filed May 24 in Salt Lake Citys federal court by Mary and Bryan Nelson. He seemed like the most amazing guy, Stephen recalls. Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. They teach the girls its their choice, Hansen said, but [say], Heres the selection.. Each daughter married one of their cousins, who also are pictured with their parents. This story has been shared 116,307 times. Come back, his dad will say. 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. Another group of kids called the Lost Boys, who were kicked out of the polygamist cult the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, ended up on the streets of Las Vegas and Phoenix, some turning tricks for drugs like meth and heroin. Instead, she volunteered for extra shifts at the Kingston Group-run coal mine near Huntington, where she worked as a dispatcher. To deaden his feelings of isolation, he started smoking a lot of pot and sitting around the house all day listening to country music. 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. Paul J. Kingston Sr., 93, of North Huntingdon, died Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Church leader Paul Kingston conducted the service and his brothers John Daniel and David were speakers. 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. They both have the same high cheekbones, the same pale skin, the same wide-set eyes. The lawsuit includes a copy of whats alleged to be an agreement children had to sign before going to college. 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. She wasnt allowed to leave the house until she decided whom to marry. Her own father David Kingston has 18 wives and around 200 kids. Because of the clans distrust of banks, the Order had cash hidden all over the place, a poorly kept secret within the family. I think it scared them.. Hansen, 50, in a recent interview, said she told her daughter that wanting to leave home was the wrong reason to get married. 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. She was instructed, the complaint adds, to deposit the excess funds at a South Salt Lake office building, where the sects bank is located. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax They also knew that much of the clans wealth was stashed inside the unassuming suburban house on the corner. She then met with two women who helped her complete financial aid forms. When a girl doesnt want to be a polygamist, that information is shared among boys and men in the sect. It was all fun, Stephen recalls. 12 Paul J. WILFONG was born on 4-13-1912 in Marlinton. The plaintiffs estimate 40 to 50 children from the sect were college age in each of the past six years. Only the inner circle knew the hoard even existed, says Christian Kingston, a former Order member. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group. Snow said she was forced to fast, pray and read the Bible. 1 choice [of whom to marry] in The Order, Jessica Kingston said. Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues After Becoming Porn Meme, Claims She Was 'Groomed' for Sex With Coworkers Over the last four years, these audits have occurred for DCCS members at a rate 9.5 times higher than the average population. The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit. Snow said her marriage fell apart over her not liking the Kingston Group and her husband wanting to have another wife. 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 . They did it, says Christian Kingston. He was angry and confused, says a former member of the cult. These days Stephen works on a cattle ranch near the Idaho border, just down the road from where he grew up. We want to hear it. You better check on your gold, Young told her. That cousin is also a defendant in the lawsuit. Were fucked, they told their cousin. She received no sex education or premarital counseling. A husband and wife died while on a fishing trip after falling through thin ice in the region. 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. But it is likely that Kingston could recognize some of himself in Stephen. A body of research suggests the teenage brain is not developed enough to make the kind of long-term decision needed for marriage. Boys are taught they will need to receive revelation from God on whom to marry. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time 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. 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 two most recent of those marriages, according to wedding certificates, occurred in April. The now-20-year-old said she and her husband have started a family of their own. Inseparable: Twins Peter (left) and Paul have lived. A copy of the lawsuit also is available there, though no other filings in the case are. Wed sleep on the chicken coop in the summer and shoot raccoons. 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. His most bizarre beliefs, though, concerned the occult. I am in love with old cars and horses. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. When Elden died in 1948, leadership of the Order fell to Stephens grandfather, J.O., a short, miserly man with bony shoulders and thinning hair. They belonged to the Order and had toiled in the cult for years. Thanks, it read. Prior to 2017, Kingston was Professor of Sociology, and by courtesy, Professor in the Curry School of Education. Paul Kingston told her congratulations. No evidence directly linked him to the missing gold or silver, but his father was convinced he had played a part in the thefts. DeRieux said she and her husband were not allowed to live together or consummate their marriage until they had a religious ceremony the following month. Paul Kingston, the top man within the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group or The Order, is accused of overseeing what the lawsuit calls a scheme. The deputy opened the trunk of the Honda, where he found two duffel bags stuffed with silver. The Kingstons operate in a self-contained universe, completely cut off from the outside world. He kept his office on a side street in central Salt Lake. I strongly believe they are an organized-crime family, Shurtleff says. Thanks for your understanding. Jessica Kingston said she has heard males talking to one another about a girl and say, If youre going to marry that girl, shes going to have to be a first wife because she wont live polygamy.. But he hopes that one day his family will be able to forgive him for leaving them behind. Regardless, all those applying should do so legally. The pressure became so intense DeRieux stopped going to dances. 1 choice was not her fathers. Girls are told they will need to pray to God so he might show them who their No. [9], Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. When he noticed that the boys had stopped working, he became enraged. Paul passed away on month day 1973, at age 92 at death place, Oregon. They had sped off in a Honda sedan. He said the college has controls to ensure compliance with federal aid guidelines. DeRieux says the other two girls were her half-sisters, both age 16. 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. One baby deemed to have too many deformities was allegedly put in a shoe box and left to die. 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, plural marriages that happen outside the law, two stars of the television show Escaping Polygamy,", Shanell DeRieux, a former Kingston Group member, stigmas that often come with being associated, Kent Johnson, a spokesman for the Davis County Cooperative Society. Older teenagers were crammed five and six to a room, sleeping on the floors of trailers. Like Stephen, the boys were considered troublemakers by the Order and like Stephen, they knew a lot about how the clan handled its money. (Paul W. Kingston, (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1980) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Virginia. (Courtesy photo) Paul E. Kingston, seen here in this undated photo. In 2006, it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 27 wives (including three half-sisters of his), [5] some . She said the lawsuit is well plead and noted there have been previous successful qui tam cases in student aid programs. Lawful marriage and the way it binds people together legally and financially, Hansen said, is seen as a way to keep the more rebellious girls in the Kingston Group. Jessica is hardly the only girl to make such a choice. I could tell she loved him, and it seemed like he loved her too. Within a year, Paul Kingston would take a fourth wife. Eventually, there was a meeting between Jessica Kingston, her parents and Paul Kingston. Paul Vallas and wife Sharon have been together 38 years. He finished a three-year term as Chair of the Department of Sociology in August 2007. Paul Kingston wore secondhand suits that hung off his slender shoulders, and he spoke in a flat, emotionless monotone. Stoddard was the president of the Latter Day Church of Christ, the Kingston Groups incorporated religious organization. Sometimes he parked his immaculately buffed burgundy Ford Thunderbird on the curb, but it was rare to see the man himself. But mostly he talked about the history of the Order and his ancestors, the men who had started the clan. He then pinned her on a bed, the documents say, and wouldnt let her call for help. Besides, the mother said, the girl needed her husbands health insurance to treat her condition. 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. Child trafficking is the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation (Erase Child Trafficking). She, in turn, wrote a letter to the judge on their behalf, and the case was settled without a trial. 1:03. DeRieux did marry the next year at age 18 to a cousin who was 19. At 17, she agreed to marry a man in his early 20s. When they arrived in Grand Junction, all three couples filled out the papers for a marriage license. She called her sister-in-law Patty Kingston, who lived across town. The group has drawn legal attention before. Many children begin working before 10 . So when her husband pushed for that daughter to marry, too, Hansen thought she was mature enough. 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. The couples wedding certificate says Stoddard officiated the ceremony April 26, 2008, in West Valley City. 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