The Kingston clan, a sect born out of a split in Mormons accused of rape, incest, and slavery

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Blaklyn was 16 when she was forced to marry her cousin Travis in 2020. She got pregnant soon after.

He was subjugated without any decision-making power in his life. Her destiny was to maintain the “Kingston pureblood” and comply with the wishes of her husband, who was 11 years older than her.

In some cases, Blaklyn (not her real name to protect her identity) would wake up in the middle of the night when her husband was harassing her. And he couldn’t complain. In the Kingston clan, male sexual desires in marriage should be honored and not considered a violation even if the woman did not give her consent.

However, when she saw her husband sexually abusing the baby, she said, “Enough!” said. and looked for a way to escape.

Blaklyn’s parents were siblings, and her father already had four more wives when they got married.

Her father and father-in-law decided on an arranged marriage. They are two of the “Seven Brothers”, head of the Kingston clan in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Kingston clan is an endogamous (preaching unity between members of the same family) and polygamous sect formed by a split in the Mormon church – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The clan was reportedly brought to justice by 10 victims, including Blaklyn, in early September.

In the complaint, the victims allege that, in addition to forced incest, they were brainwashed and subjected to physical abuse, child labor, and conditions similar to slave labor (their duties were assigned to cult companies and they were not paid). and gimmicks to defraud the State, publicly referred to as “beast bleeding”.

The Kingston group, known internally as “The Agency”, denied the allegations.

origin of clan

Charles Kingston resided in Salt Lake City and was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church. He was excommunicated from the church in 1929 for polygamy.

This practice, which was removed from the church in the late 19th century, was a condition set by the United States to grant Utah statehood.

Six years after the excommunication, Elden, one of Kingston’s sons, realized that his family must continue to be governed by religious law. So he founded his own church with his own rules.

The official name of the Kingston clan is the Davis County Cooperative Society, and their religious cult is called the Latter-day Church of Jesus.

They are governed by a strict hierarchical system. At the top of the pyramid is the “prophet” – a man who must be of “pure Kingston blood” and is considered by believers to be a direct descendant of Jesus Christ.

Since 1987, the prophetic position has been held by Paul Elden Kingston, Charles’ grandson and Elden Kingston’s nephew. He is estimated to have around 500 children with 34 wives. All clan decisions must receive your approval.

cult rules

To allow systematic control of the community, everyone must obey a superior, even if he orders something illegal or immoral.

This rule is governed by the “law of one over the other”, an interpretation of a passage from the Bible by Elden Kingston. According to him, “being one with others means that each of us is one with the above”. Therefore, to question your superior would be to question God.

Clan members understand that state and federal laws do not apply to them, but must be guided by the designs of God who will judge them.

Under the “prophet”, also called the “man of the guard tower”, are the “Seven Brothers”. The so-called “Number Men” answer them, a supreme position in the community that shows their hierarchy within the clan. Below them are “numerous” married men, and finally, women and children.

Above the children, it is the father who is superior. When girls get married, their husbands are superior to them.

Every unnumbered married man is assigned a “Numbered Man” as his superior, usually his father or a close relative.

Women have to marry a member of the public without being asked whether they agree or not. They are usually underage and the chosen husband is a close family member such as a brother, cousin, brother or uncle.

Men can have more than one wife. Women, on the other hand, should have only one husband, assuming they have as many children as possible, even against their will, to allow the sect to grow.

Possible abortions are considered sins committed by the punished woman.

The authors of the complaint claim that the aim is for young people to become pregnant at a young age and have many children so that they do not escape the “Order”.

These children will also serve as child laborers for The Agency’s work group, which ranges from shops and supermarkets to farms and government-funded schools.

Its members owned coal mines and an energy company whose members had defrauded US tax authorities for just over $500 million in the past, according to a resolution passed two years ago.

Within the community, members use the script with their own currency. The use of dollars is prohibited.

The total number of members of the Kingston clan is unknown due to the strict secrecy applied, but it is estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 individuals.

‘Plural Marriages’ in Utah

Polygamy, called “plural marriage” by its practitioners in Utah, remained common practice in this part of the United States, not only within the Kingston clan, but also in other groups formed by Mormon divisions.

One of the best-known minor branches is the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its leader, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 for incest and child sexual abuse.

Ten years ago, Tom Green, a fundamentalist missionary from Utah, was convicted of polygamy and child sexual abuse. He had five wives and 35 children.

In Utah, the penalty for polygamy was up to five years in prison, but in 2020 the state’s Republican-majority legislature decriminalized the practice and reduced it to the category of malfeasance, the equivalent of a traffic ticket. The legislators’ argument was that this way potential victims of crime would be guaranteed to report them without punishment.

sectarianism

Part of the logic behind the Kingstons is to not get along with people outside the clan and to respond as little as possible to outside questions. Order is that the outside world knows as little as possible about life in the community.

So much so that, according to the report of one of the complainants, the tribe has a company that prints “Emir’s” wedding announcements and invitations, as well as photographs of marriages of men and young children in incest or plural marriages. It cannot be printed at Walmart (American supermarket chain)”.

Marriages are celebrated by clan members authorized by the state for this task, but sometimes the couple’s surname is changed in documents to avoid possible investigations by government officials.

Also, the birth certificate usually does not mention the father of the newborn. They lie by claiming that they didn’t know the father when the mothers registered the babies, or that he disappeared after learning of the pregnancy.

“It is a common and deliberate practice in the Statute that parents are not mentioned in their children’s birth certificates to create confusion, to avoid criminal prosecutions for progeny of children in underage, multiple or incestuous marriages,” the complaint states.

The Kingston clan has been at the center of justice for at least 25 years. In the past, some of its members have been convicted of sex crimes, government fraud, and money laundering.

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