Paul Elden Kingston

Paul Elden Kingston
Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 25, 1987
Preceded byJohn Ortell Kingston
Personal details
Born (1959-12-17) 17 December 1959 (age 64)
Utah, United States
SpousesAt least 27
Children300+
ParentJohn Ortell Kingston

Paul Elden Kingston (born 17 December 1959) is an accountant and attorney who has served as the Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS), a Mormon fundamentalist denomination,[1][2] since 1987. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935.

Kingston studied at the University of Utah Law School and was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1990.[3]

Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. During his tenure, some members have continued the practice of plural, and intra-family marriage,[4] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group.[5]

Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS, and members make their own choice in who they marry.[5] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. 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.[6][7][8][9] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group.[10] In a 2024 lawsuit, a federal lawsuit alleged abuses occurred in the group. The federal complaint described the plaintiffs as 10 young women who, "from their earliest memories until their eventual escapes, were victims of economic and sexual crimes perpetrated by 'the Order,' a criminal enterprise and polygamous religious sect."[11]

Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. There are thousands of members in the group.[10]

He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 children.[12][13]

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ Hales, Brian C. "John Ortell Kingston". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Paul Kingston : UTAH Bar". services.utahbar.org. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Foster, Craig (2019). American Polygamy; A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 197, 198. ISBN 978-1-4671-3752-2.
  6. ^ "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped". KSL.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  7. ^ "DCCS - FAQ". www.dccsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  8. ^ "Polygamists are urged to make public statement". Deseret News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  9. ^ "No longer performing child-bride marriages?". Deseret News. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Kingston polygamist sect trafficked children, violated federal labor laws, Utah lawsuit alleges". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  12. ^ Bennion, Janet (2012). Polygamy in Primetime. ISBN 9781611682960. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  13. ^ "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire". Rolling Stone. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2021-05-22.