Regardless, all those applying should do so legally.. When they arrived in Grand Junction, all three couples filled out the papers for a marriage license. Eventually, there was a meeting between Jessica Kingston, her parents and Paul Kingston. Knight was born in Salt Lake City, the sixth child of third-generation polygamists. A sheriffs deputy traced the license plate of the Honda to a run-down house in a working-class suburb south of the city. The other seven are brothers or sons of Paul Kingston. 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 is one of eight men named as defendants in the lawsuit. Snow said the classes also taught the girls to be submissive to their husbands and to keep a good house for them. 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. They sat there for a moment, warming their hands against the sputtering heater. Within the clan, the pieces started to add up. 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. But we paid it all back.. 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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. 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. Paul Kingston told her congratulations. 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. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? They should refrain from this decision until they can be well informed to make a mature and thoughtful decision before entering into marriage.. 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. 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. It was February in Salt Lake, cold and gray, and in the foothills above the city, a low fog hung over the mountains. A body of research suggests the teenage brain is not developed enough to make the kind of long-term decision needed for marriage. John Daniel Kingston, who according to court testimony once had 14 wives, was on hand in 2011, when his sons held an open house at the Washakie production plant in Plymouth near Interstate 15 and . The two boys pulled into the driveway and shifted the green Honda into park. [5][6][7][8] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. One is a first cousin. Three others, including Grant, said they had to flee to escape such a fate. Stephen moved in with his brother. 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. The lawsuit from Michaels and the Nelsons asserts the defendants are liable for up to $27 million in damages and another $20 million in penalties. Then one of them exhaled slowly, his breath shuddering in the cold air. Inseparable: Twins Peter (left) and Paul have lived. If the Order doesnt have it, the clan teaches, we dont need it., Editors picks 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. The Kingstons operate in a self-contained universe, completely cut off from the outside world. Jessica Kingston said a girls devotion and attitude are often measured by her view of polygamy. Its his father, the prophet, calling to coax his wayward son back into the fold. Mysterious cars followed his girlfriend, and he once came home to find that someone had rifled through his drawers. Like Stephen, the boys were considered troublemakers by the Order and like Stephen, they knew a lot about how the clan handled its money. 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?. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. Fortunately, our population has already attained a higher graduation rate for high school and associates degrees for men and women in the DCCS. ", "United by fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, one polygamous group helps another by bringing truckloads of food", "Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy", "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped", "Polygamists are urged to make public statement", "No longer performing child-bride marriages? According to former members of the Order, decades of inbreeding have resulted in rampant birth defects throughout the family. 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. "A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. (Jessicas dad and the young man had taken courses together at the University of Utah.) Paul was upset any of this had been reported at all, says a former member close to the boys. 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. Donate to the newsroom now. View Site Johnson did not provide the raw data to support those statistics. Two of Hansen's daughters legally married when they were under the age of 18 to young men in the Kingston Group. 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. Women and girls, after theyre married, submit to their husbands and men answer to higher-ranked men, the suit alleges. He served one day in jail. 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. When Paul turned 21, he married Richaun Dye. But the Kingstons have remained in Salt Lake, operating virtually undetected in a city of more than 1 million people. It was all fun, Stephen recalls. That usually means marrying a Kingston descendant. Paul Kingston is one of eight men named as defendants in the lawsuit. On this much, though, mother and daughter agree: Snows father was the primary driver. Each daughter married one of their cousins, who also are pictured with their parents. Snow and her mother, Shirley Hansen, have differing stories on what the moms role was in her daughters marriage. DeRieux remarried at age 21 to a man who isnt from the Kingston Group. Family photo: Kollene's father, John Daniel Kingston has 14 wives, and she is the fifth of her mother Shirley Hansen's 12 children +9 View gallery Controlling: They got married in March 2009,. He was angry and confused, says a former member of the cult. 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 . 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. Children born into the clan make up much of the labor force. Snow contends her mother was one of the people who told her she needed to think about whom she was going to wed. Photo by Nate Carlisle, The Salt Lake Tribune | Shirley Hansen, seen here July 21, 2018, stands along 2100 South near State Street in Salt Lake City. Wed sleep on the chicken coop in the summer and shoot raccoons. Those two unions happened in Colorado, where its legal to marry your cousin. 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. In the past, we have worked closely with DWS, DOE and financial aid counselors at local colleges and universities to ensure proper training and that all applications adhere to every guideline. He is not ready to forgive his father. Every now and then, as hes driving around the ranch, his phone will ring. 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. Over 75 years, the Kingstons have amassed a fortune worth an estimated $300 million, but the operation skirts the edges of the law. The Order was founded by Elden Kingston, Stephens grand-uncle, at the height of the Great Depression. The lawsuit describes crimes and issues within the Kingston Group that have no direct relationship to the student aid applications. Frances was born on November 4 1892, in Indiana. 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. Boys are taught they will need to receive revelation from God on whom to marry. If the case succeeds, the whistleblowers can collect perhaps millions of dollars from the damages or fines paid by the defendants. (Paul W. Kingston, (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1980) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Virginia. 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. 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. We were taught to be polite, but to never make friends with outsiders. 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