Judge Orders Polygamist to Pay Child Support

KUTV.com/October 19, 2004

State child welfare authorities have removed eight children from a family belonging to Utah's polygamist Kingston clan, the children's parents said Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear when the children were removed from their home in suburban Salt Lake. Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the state's Division of Child and Family Services, refused comment on the case.

The children were taken from the family of John Daniel Kingston, who was ordered earlier this year to pay $3,100 a month in family support to one of his purported wives.

The support was ordered as part of a case in which both Kingston and the wife were accused of child abuse and neglect. The couple have 11 children, two of whom have already been removed from the home. The state did not take the couple's youngest child, a 3-month-old girl, who will remain with her mother.

Kingston is a prominent member of the polygamous family also known to authorities 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.

After the state's move, the Kingston couple issued a desperate news release to media outlets calling on DCFS to stop its action.

"Their purpose is to take the children from all polygamist parents and break up their families," the release said.

The couple had planned a news conference, but later canceled it.