Paul Elden Kingston
Paul Elden Kingston | |
|---|---|
| Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office August 25, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John Ortell Kingston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1959 Utah, United States |
| Spouses | At least 27 |
| Children | 300+ |
| Parent | John Ortell Kingston |
Paul Elden Kingston (born 17 December 1959) is an accountant and attorney. Since 1987 he has served as the Trustee-in-Trust (Leader) of the Latter Day Church of Christ (LDCC), also known as Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS) or the Kingston Group, a Mormon fundamentalist denomination.[1][2] The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935.
Life
Paul Elden Kingston was born in 1959 as a son of John Ortell Kingston and LaDonna Peterson.
Kingston studied at the University of Utah Law School and was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1990.[3]
He succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust (Leader) of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. During his tenure, members have continued the practice of plural, and intra-family marriage.[4]
Teenage marriages
According to the group plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. According to themselves the DCCS has a policy encouraging its members to marry within the legal age of consent.[5]
Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS, and members make their own choice in who they marry.[6] 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.[7][8][9][10] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry.[11]
In search of public records the Salt Lake Tribune has found 20 marriages among members of the group between 1997 and 2018 in which both bride and groom were at least 18, but also found 65 marriages in which the bride was 15, 16 or 17. While according to former members dozens or hundreds more marriage certificates might be at county clerk offices across the west, most marriages are said to happen outside the law meaning that there is no legal but only a spiritual wedding. Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages that happened in Colorado where marriages between first cousins are legal.[11]
Wives and children
He is practicing polygamy accruing at least 27 wives and fathering more than 300 children. Three of his wives are his half-sisters, two are his nieces and one is a first cousin.[12][13][14]
References
- ^ "United by fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, one polygamous group helps another by bringing truckloads of food". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ Hales, Brian C. "John Ortell Kingston". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ "Paul Kingston : UTAH Bar". services.utahbar.org. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ Janofsky, Michael (February 27, 2003), "Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy", The New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-10 Late Edition - Final Section A, page 1, column 2
- ^ "DCCS - FAQ". www.dccsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Blood Cult". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ^ "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped". KSL.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "DCCS - FAQ". www.dccsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Polygamists are urged to make public statement". Deseret News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "No longer performing child-bride marriages?". Deseret News. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ a b "Girls in polygamous Kingston Group continue to marry as young as 15, records show, sometimes leaving Utah to marry cousins". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ Bennion, Janet (2012). Polygamy in Primetime. ISBN 9781611682960. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
- ^ "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire". Rolling Stone. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
- ^ "Blood Cult". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2025-11-26.