Judge Orders Kingston to Pay Child Support

Associated Press/August 25, 2004

Salt Lake City -- A judge has ordered polygamist John Daniel Kingston to pay $3,100 a month in family support to one of his purported wives.

The child support was ordered as part of a case in which both Kingston and the wife were accused of child abuse and neglect.

Kingston is a prominent member of the polygamous Kingston clan, also known as the Order. The secretive group, with an estimated 1,200 members, has amassed a $150 million business empire, running companies that include pawn shops, restaurant supply stores, dairies and mines.

The support the judge ordered Wednesday exceeds the monthly income Kingston claimed in financial documents. The state claimed that Kingston had more jobs and financial holdings than he reported, but it never presented any estimate of his actual income.

Both John Daniel Kingston and Heidi Mattingly, the mother of 11 of his alleged 100 children, took the stand to testify about financial documents, such as tax forms and monthly expenses.

Mattingly made $10,617 in 2003, according to tax forms, and also claimed $1,342 in monthly expenses.

Mattingly had little explanation when Carolyn Nichols, an attorney with the attorney general's office's child protection division, asked her how it was that her spending exceeded her income.

Mattingly said she did receive some help from Kingston through what she called "gifts" as part of her "wonderful, wonderful life." They included Kingston occasionally bringing over boxes of potatoes or a lawn mower and paying $400 of her $875 rent.

It's a life in which she lists $500 a month that is used to feed and provide for the nine children she has at home, which, Judge Andrew Valdez pointed out, amounted to $2 a day for each child.

Kingston reported a 2003 income of $18,592 from his employer, A-1 Disposal, and just over $1,600 in monthly expenses, primarily to pay interest on a maxed out $230,000 line of credit.

Kingston only admits to one wife, Rachael Kingston, to whom he is legally married and with whom he has 13 children. He is believed to have 14 wives, but he has taken the Fifth Amendment when asked about the other wives.

When Nichols questioned Kingston about state records that show his name as an officer or owner of about a dozen businesses, he said that the John Daniel Kinston on those documents was likely his and Rachael's son.

Based on the financial disclosures -- which Valdez called "useless based on what has been provided" -- Kingston's attorney, Daniel Irvin, suggested Kingston could initially pay $570 a month in child support.

"Mr. Irvin, $170 a month and a box of potatoes isn't going to cut it," Valdez said, subtracting the $400 Kingston already pays for Mattingly's rent.

Valdez set a temporary support amount of $300 a month for each child in the home in addition to the rent he's paying for Mattingly.

Valdez ruled that the support amount must be paid by Sept. 25 and set a Nov. 3 court date to review more financial information to determine if the amount should be changed.

In June, the state determined that Kingston had abused two of his daughters and Mattingly, who has also gone by the last name Foster, had been negligent in protecting the children by not stopping the abuse.

The two girls were removed from the home when the abuse allegations were made in February. Since the June trial the 13-year-old has been placed in the permanent custody of an aunt and uncle and the 15-year-old has remained in foster care.

Earlier this month, Kingston and Mattingly were found in contempt of court for violating a protection order against contacting the two girls.

Kingston served 40 hours of community service with a local soup kitchen for the violation. Mattingly was ordered into counseling.

On Wednesday, Valdez also ruled that the couple was not in violation of another court order for visiting a psychiatrist not appointed by the court before going to the correct doctor.