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. In his opening statement and in his cross examination of Kingston, the attorney also spent much time dwelling on the practice of polygamy in the Kingston family sect, saying that sect leader Paul . 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. And they avoid the police, opting to handle any disputes in their own brutal manner. 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 clan kids from there would come to school not properly dressed for the cold, and they were always getting in fights. If Paul Kingston or the designee signs off, the groom next goes to the girls father. The families of 19-year-old Stephen Smith who was rumored to be . 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. Donate to the newsroom now. Jessica suspects her dad was pushing her toward another man. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. A body of research suggests the teenage brain is not developed enough to make the kind of long-term decision needed for marriage. Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune. A copy of the lawsuit also is available there, though no other filings in the case are. The groom was 21. 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. In the kitchen, he opened a closet and popped a hatch in the floor that led down to a dark, musty basement. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. 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. (Photo courtesy Shanell DeRieux) John Daniel Kingston, front center, kneels in front of three of his daughters as they hold their wedding certificates July 3, 2008, in Grand Junction, Colo. Shanell DeRieux, second row left, was 18; the other two girls were 16. Her husband, John Daniel Kingston, told his children to marry up, she said, meaning marry into a well-regarded family in the Kingston Group. J.O. But we paid it all back.. But it is likely that Kingston could recognize some of himself in Stephen. Thanks for contacting us. DeRieux remarried at age 21 to a man who isnt from the Kingston Group. One of them approached the front door while the other kept a lookout. After the boys were taken into custody, one of their first calls was to Stephen. All the families belong to the Davis County Cooperative Society. Their grooms were 22. Nor are youths from polygamous sects the only teens who marry in Utah. They were finally getting even. 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. I honestly didnt even know there was any gold until they accused me of taking it, he says. Paul lived in 1935, at address, Washington. 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. 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. If you were more obedient, this wouldnt have happened., After that, everything changed, Stephen says. The roof sagged, the carpet was worn, and the place reeked of cheap cologne. 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?. 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. [9], Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. 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. The groom wore a suit. You could be such an asset to the Order., Trending Mafi had another meeting with Paul Kingston during which he made sure that she had completed her [applications] and told her that she could only attend college if her grades were sufficient to qualify for financial aid.. It would be several more years before Stephen learned that Paul Kingston was his father, and that his mother was just one of his dads many wives. 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. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. It was Mothers Day in 2000, and Stephen and two of his brothers were speeding up a dirt road for dinner at an aunts house. Their legal team includes a Boston law firm with expertise in qui tam lawsuits. One woman who was married in 2014 at age 16 said she did so for the same reason most people do: She fell in love. 1:03. That cousin is also a defendant in the lawsuit. Two of Hansen's daughters legally married when they were under the age of 18 to young men in the Kingston Group. Their divorce was finalized in July 2012 a little more than three years after they married. The suit says sect members might have obtained tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars through false applications. Managed by: 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. He served one day in jail. Donate to the newsroom now. (Jessicas dad and the young man had taken courses together at the University of Utah.) You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 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. John Gustafson, a representative of the Davis County Cooperative Society, an affiliate of the Kingston Group, disputed the lawsuits claims. Thanks, it read. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. Shortly after that meeting, the complaint continues, Mrs. 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. For now, Utah law says a 15-year-old may marry with the consent of a parent or guardian and the permission of a juvenile court judge. He thinks about his mom, and wonders if she misses him. DeRieux did marry the next year at age 18 to a cousin who was 19. This article related to the Latter Day Saint movement is a stub. The teenagers sitting in the driveway on South Bonner Circle that afternoon in 2009 knew the operation well. Jessica Kingston said within a year of getting married, her husband started looking for a plural wife. No record of the case is available at the court clerks office. Birthdate: 1791. It was time. 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. As he grew older, Stephen turned out to be as rebellious as his own father had been. All Rights reserved. My mom was never the same. 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. Youre just supposed to get married as young as you can, said the now-26-year-old. 'I am the daughter of his fifth. A husband and wife died while on a fishing trip after falling through thin ice in the region. Girls who agree to become plural wives tend to be more devout and usually live in homes without their husband, thus receiving less scrutiny. At 15, Snow ran away from home, wound up in a foster home and later was returned to her mother. 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. 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. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune 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. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Jurors in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial will get to see for themselves the rural hunting estate where his wife and son were killed, following in the footsteps of . Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the leader of the Kingston Clan on his father's death in 1987. One of them, Stephen Knight, made for the most unlikely of suspects. Then one of them exhaled slowly, his breath shuddering in the cold air. It begins with the potential groom. One day, not long after the gold disappeared, Knight got an anonymous phone call. 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. At 17, she agreed to marry a man in his early 20s. Then, moving quickly, the boy at the door let himself in and got to work. You better check on your gold, Young told her. The family gathered in the living room. We were off on our own out there and really close, Stephen says. Over the next several years, Stephen bounced from the suburbs of Salt Lake to the clans ranch in Nevada. The young women ranged from about age 18 to 22. 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. To go to Colorado, DeRieux said, she and her fianc drove to Price, where they jumped into a 15-passenger van carrying their parents, the other two sets of brides and grooms and their parents. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. But mostly he talked about the history of the Order and his ancestors, the men who had started the clan. Paul Vallas' Net Worth In 2023 Explored. During his tenure Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. 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. One of the Orders leaders did jail time for severely beating his own daughter after she fled an arranged marriage to his brother. 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. Youd show up for a welfare call, or a domestic-abuse call, and it was just real run-down.. 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. A Tale of Two Chads: More Drama From Nineties Band Live. The couples divorce became final in 2011. Child trafficking is the illegal movement of children, typically for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation (Erase Child Trafficking). We figured it was ours anyway, says Stephen, explaining that the clan hadnt paid the boys for bagging coal. He asked him if he was being obedient, then excused himself to talk to Stephens mother. In 2006 it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 40 wives (including two half-sisters of his), some of whom have up . 1 choice [of whom to marry] in The Order, Jessica Kingston said. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. This story has been shared 116,307 times. The parents of the 16-year-olds also completed a form granting their permission. There shouldnt really be a reason for an age limit, she said. Photo Credit: Sullivan County Sheriff's Office. We strongly encourage all members to strictly adhere to every legal guideline when operating their businesses including day cares and when applying for all need-based assistance, including financial aid for students. If that child comes to her at age 16 wanting to marry, she said, she will have questions. 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. Stephen didnt know what the law said he only knew that the people he loved were being abused and exploited by his own father. Carl Kingston is believed to have fathered 20 children from two wives and another child from a third wife who has left him. We will continue to do so. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? The Kingstons operate in a self-contained universe, completely cut off from the outside world. 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. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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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. The two boys pulled into the driveway and shifted the green Honda into park. Markey said the plaintiffs are making the case to a judge that the Kingston Group is a cult and criminal enterprise rather than a religion. 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. 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. But the more the deputy pressed, the more their stories didnt add up. Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues After Becoming Porn Meme, Claims She Was 'Groomed' for Sex With Coworkers I think it scared them.. At first, the two boys denied any involvement in the break-in at Youngs house. 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. One is a first cousin. Cousin Carl E. Kingston, an attorney, is said to have a mere two wives. Not desiring to be a plural wife doesnt necessarily mean she hoped to leave the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. One afternoon, as Stephen and his cousin were taking a break from fixing a tractor that had broken down in a hayfield, Daniel Kingston pulled up. Hansen said some men try to use their children to improve their status in the sect. 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.. Sometimes his father read the Book of Mormon from the pulpit and talked about things regular Christians would recognize, like tithing or repentance. Then one night, a clan member called and told him that the Order planned to kill him. 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. In the months after the robbery, Stephen couldnt shake the feeling he was being watched. The issue is available now on newsstands and in the digital archive. She was 68. Not every Kingston Group follower marries as a juvenile. At a minimum, the statement said, two employees review every student file flagged for verification to ensure quality assurance in our processes.. Kingston had told gaming regulators in California. Attorneys for the Nelsons and Michaels also did not return messages seeking comments. Ive lived a good life. Sometimes, lying in bed at night, he thinks of his brother who died not far from here, and the rest of his siblings who remain in the Order. Were fucked, they told their cousin. His arms are sunburned and his hands calloused from long days moving the irrigation pipes that water the fields. Over the last four years, these audits have occurred for DCCS members at a rate 9.5 times higher than the average population. The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. The son of the clans prophet, Knight, then 18, had once seemed destined for a leadership role within the Order. Viewers Can Watch Prince Harry Talk to a Trauma Expert for $33.09 DeRieux was photographed in Layton, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. Boys are taught they will need to receive revelation from God on whom to marry. Current members dispute those characterizations. The Knight brothers were driving new trucks, and so were their friends, says Levi Kingston. 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. The pressure became so intense DeRieux stopped going to dances. Two are nieces. 1 choice was not her fathers. According to former Order members, they worked long shifts sorting coal and operating heavy machinery in unsafe conditions. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time 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. September 1, 2018. While all that is happening, the potential bride is supposed to have been praying about whom to marry. Andrea Johnson was buried on June 13, 1992, at the Bountiful Memorial Park. 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. Shanell DeRieux was married at 18 to a husband in the Kingston Group. Complete statement from Davis County Cooperative Society: For decades, the DCCS has encouraged its members to be well-educated, well-informed, independent thinkers. When someone is interested in marriage, the process is something more like a job interview than a courtship. According to former members of the Order, decades of inbreeding have resulted in rampant birth defects throughout the family. [10][11]. He was born Jan. 7, 1928, in San Diego, Calif., a son of the late Paul and Evelyn . Snow said she was forced to fast, pray and read the Bible. Our goal of an educated, well-informed population goes against the popular narrative for our culture and there is a concerted effort to keep this false narrative alive. When they arrived in Grand Junction, all three couples filled out the papers for a marriage license. The lawsuit says Mafi received an aid package that exceeded her tuition. Three of his wives are his half-sisters. Im done with this shit.. Mafis mother is Paul Kingstons fifth wife, yet when filling out the aid forms, the woman advising her told Mafi not to submit anything about her father, according to the lawsuit. In the meantime, the police were closing in on the missing silver. She and her husband had four children with whom they share custody. Luke Brown now insists that he and his brother simply borrowed the silver, and planned to return it to their aunt later. 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 . 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. Colorado does not require an officiant or a ceremony to marry. Mrs. 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. 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 . To hide the scope of his organization, J.O. It was all just innocent teenage stuff, recalls Ron, who has since left the clan. A few days later, the groom-to-be picked up Jessica and took her to Murray Park. The suitor had asked her to dance a few times at The Orders youth social events. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 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. No recordings or photos were allowed during the ceremony. . No evidence directly linked him to the missing gold or silver, but his father was convinced he had played a part in the thefts. 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. 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. They sat there for a moment, warming their hands against the sputtering heater. 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 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. If someone is mature enough, they should be able to do whatever they want.. The clan is lead today by Charles E. Kingston's son, Paul E. Kingston, who is said to have more than 30 wives. Terrified, he went out and bought a stash of guns to arm himself, just in case his family tried to gun him down. "A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. While his dad was running the order from Salt Lake City, Stephen grew up on a cattle ranch called Washakie, near the Idaho border. The Order was founded by Elden Kingston, Stephens grand-uncle, at the height of the Great Depression. He finished a three-year term as Chair of the Department of Sociology in August 2007. 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. Luke and Scott often visited the home of one of their aunts, Rachel Young. 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.. Chuck Lepper, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said that no review is planned at this time. Short and chubby, the Brown boys looked up to the Knight brothers. 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 felt like it was us against the world. His older brother Richard, a burly diesel mechanic, taught him how to fix cars. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. Older teenagers were crammed five and six to a room, sleeping on the floors of trailers. For parents, there can be other practical considerations in letting a teen marry, Hansen said. I am in love with old cars and horses. Come back, his dad will say. 1 choice. Theyd keep it in basements, in filing cabinets, in a big safe in one of Pauls offices, says Levi Kingston, a former clan member. 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. Many children begin working before 10 . They had sped off in a Honda sedan. Home. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. 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. The plaintiffs estimate the eight combine to have 106 wives. She grew up in Woods Cross and hated The Order all her life, she said in a recent interview. The DCCS reaffirms that each individual has their free agency to choose whom and when they will marry, the statement said. View Site 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. Rachel young 13, 1992, at the highest levels of the Orders did. Marries as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period typically the! 1928, in San Diego, Calif., a clan member called told... On newsstands and in the region born Jan. 7, 1928, in San Diego, Calif., son. Thinks about his mom, and so were their friends, says a former member Group, disputed lawsuits... 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