Day by Day cartoon

Monday, June 07, 2004

Polygamy's popular here, how 'bout where you live?

Ok, here's the post, re-written as best I can manage from the inadvertent "oops" of this morning.

First there was this link to a story about David Kingston. He's been in court for a number of days now. Seems he can't remember all his children's names- from just one of the 10 women he calls a wife!
Today, (May 21) Kingston took the stand in court. When asked to name all of his children, he struggled trying to remember all of their names.

Andrea Moore Emmett, Utah NOW: “He started out he named probably five then he started over. Then he counted and named three. And then he tried again. He asked for water, said he was nervous, and he never did name all of his ten children by this particular wife."
And then after consulting with his attorney he claimed his 5th Amendment rights on all questions concerning his children's names.

It gets better-
Caseworkers for the state have investigated the Foster home four times in the past decade for neglect and extremely unhealthy living conditions.

A police report was filed in February after a three and five-year old child were found walking along a busy road alone. The report goes on to say that when the Kingston kids were taken back home, the investigating police officer says she walked into a home that was filthy, smelly, full of garbage and rotting food, and this is how the Foster children were living.
Note the February mention. This is Utah and February is a lousy time for kids to be on the streets...

Here's the results from Kingston's trial.
A juvenile court judge has ruled that two children fathered by prominent polygamist John Daniel Kingston were abused and neglected.

Judge Andrew Valdez ruled late Thursday that an uncle and aunt who are not part of the Kingston cult will have temporary custody of the 13-year-old girl and the 15-year-old girl will be in a foster facility. Both girls will be able to visit their mother and siblings.

Valdez said they had been abused and neglected by their father and their mother had been negligent in protecting them.

Valdez said all 10 children of Kingston and Heidi Foster, who have gone by the surname of Foster, were entitled to be named Kingston and also were entitled to inheritance.

"The name is Kingston, sir, and they have a right to their own names," Valdez said.
This right to inheritance could be a problem since-
Kingston is believed to have approximately 100 children with around 14 wives.
But it shouldn't be too big of a problem. After all-
The Kingston clan, also known as the Order, includes an estimated 1,200 members. The secretive group has amassed a $150 million business empire, running companies that include pawn shops, restaurant supply stores, dairies and mines.
Well, that's just one of the things that makes living in Utah interesting! How's life in your state?

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