"In this isolated religious society north of the Grand Canyon, few secrets have been more closely guarded than the presence of fumarase deficiency. . lucky He also married a woman descended from polygamy. present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society. The suit includes ten former members alleging the organization used marriages to "unlawfully make girls and their children religious martyrs and traffic them for sexual and labor purposes". [5] Michael Janofsky, Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy, New York Times, February 27, 2003, Late EditionFinal Section A-1. [I]t appears that Joseph Smith Jessop and his first wife also passed on the rare genetic disorder fumarase deficiency. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. . He did not consider this lack of sons might be his genetic inheritance, not his multiple wives. From the "Phoenix New Timms" article, "Forbidden Fruit: Inbreeding Among Polygamists Along the Arizona-Utah Border is Producing a Caste of Severely Retarded and Deformed Children": "Colorado City resident Isaac Wyler says FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs is trying to create the 'perfect race.'. 'It's like any inbred disorder,' Tarby says. I owe my children and all children who risk becoming the next unwitting victims of this tragic genetic legacy the best information regarding the prevention of this lethal family inheritance that I can find. "Marriages among first and second cousins have been common for decades in the community, where religious doctrine requires men to have at least three wives to gain eternal salvation. From an "Associated Press" news report, "Doctor: Birth Defects Increase in Polygamy Community": "A rare, severe birth defect is on the rise in an inbred polygamous community on the Arizona-Utah border, according to a doctor who has treated many of the children. Most populations outbreed and so these lethal genes rarely match to cause any serious diseases. . Five of the women suing alleged they were coerced into marriage as minors and raped by their husbands. Aleck is a geneticist who participated along with Tarby and others in the groundbreaking study of several polygamous families with fumarase deficiency in the late 1990s. WRE has since become defunct. The suit was filed against the groups leader Paul Eldon Kingston and 21 other members. But now that it was appearing in two children in the same family was an indication it was being spread by a gene that was getting passed to the children by their parents. [1] Charles William Kingston, Autobiography, 2324; spelling and punctuation standardized. [23][36] These relationships are defined as incestuous according to Utah's Criminal Code 76-7-102 (2021), which states: "Related person" means a person related to the provider or actor as an ancestor, descendant, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or first cousin, and includes: (i) blood relationships of the whole or half blood without regard to legitimacy; (ii) the relationship of parent and child by adoption; and (iii) the relationship of stepparent and stepchild while the marriage creating the relationship of a stepparent and stepchild exists. "', "'Joseph Smith was also selecting for the "obedience gene." The Bear Clan's Kevin Walker told Global News on Wednesday that while the organization is still actively hitting Winnipeg streets, the way they operate has changed due to COVID-19. [39] The 2022 complaint was filed by attorney, Roger Hoole,[39] an attorney known for representing ex-members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. [19] For many years, members of the Co-operative lived in poor conditions, and those in need had no legal way to apply for assistance. . Asserting that 'the attitude between Mormons and Mormon fundamentalist polygamists is that of kissing cousins with more similarities than differences.' Thus this monogamic order of marriage, so esteemed by modern Christians as a holy sacrament and divine institution, is nothing but a system established by a set of robbers. . joined the Mormons in Zion, the new Promised Land, trading a life of mining for religious hope. 'I could choose, but it had to be a brother, uncle or cousin.' 'If you stop the sexual predation, you stop the genetic problem as well. . Carolyn regularly worked at and tended . 5, p. 22. "Until the test is available, Tarby says, the best prevention measure remains refraining from crossing Barlows, Jessops and their relations--who make up half the population of the polygamist enclave. Not one defect, but many. Child life is destroyed. . . [6] Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, May 22, 2004. Wyler says he once saw a fumarase deficiency child suffer a seizure while she was sitting with her mother and two other children also suffering from the disorder. "The fact that fumarase deficiency had shown up in one child was startling enough--there had only been a handful of cases reported worldwide. [13][verification needed], The Latter Day Church of Christ is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a presence in Bountiful, Utah. The Cooperative itself was established in 1935. "Victims suffer a range of symptoms, including severe epileptic seizures, inability to walk or even sit upright, severe speech impediments, failure to grow at a normal rate, and tragic physical deformities. This story has been shared 112,868 times. The brother missionaries have been in the habit of picking out the prettiest women for themselves before they get here, and bringing on the ugly ones for us; hereafter you have to bring them all here before taking any of them, and let us all have a fair shake. . . This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. "When ancestors are revered as prophets and kings, it is difficult to admit or examine the possibility of this legacy. . . Current scientific knowledge indicates Grants lack of sons resulted from his own genetic defect, since only men carry the male Y chromosome to make a son. The baby survived, but has cerebral palsy. . Articles of Incorporation of the Davis County Cooperative Society, 7 February 1941. The accusers also claim that the group arranged child marriages so that girls would become pregnant and beholden to their husbands and the religious sect. . "Joseph Smith Jessop and his first wife, Martha Moore Yeates, had 14 children. Literally, if they're 8 years old, it's like taking care of a baby.' . While Charles W. Kingston was the first to oppose the Church, the primary mover in the Kingston Group was his son Elden. . The man's response was, "Up here, we are all related," Tarby says. . . And in 1999, David Ortell Kingston Jeremy Kingston's uncle was sentenced to the Utah State Prison for up to 10 years for committing incest with the 16-year-old niece who became his 15th wife. A fourth to half of father-daughter and brother-sister offspring have mental or physical deficiencies. '", (John Dougherty, "Forbidden Fruit: Inbreeding Among Polygamists Along the Arizona-Utah Border is Producing a Caste of Severely Retarded and Deformed Children," in "Phoenix New Times," 29 December 2005, at: http://www.childbrides.org/taxes_PNT_forbidden_fruit.html) . Three others, including Grant, said they had to flee to escape such a fate. The parents said their daughter had cerebral palsy. And her ex-husband's parents, Merlin and Carolyn Kingston, were uncle and niece. "'Polygamy leads to sexual predation, and that leads to genetic problems,' says . and councilmen.' Children are allowed to attend public school and many go on to college. "Tarby says most of the children 'can say at least a word or two,' but that all of them 'have severe mental retardation' with IQs of less than 25. . Excerpts from the article "Understanding Polygamy," distributed by "Humanists of Utah": " . Some Kingston followers might justify their financial conglomerate by comparing it to the wealthy Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . 13:1). Accordingly, Elden became the first prophet of the Kingston Group and established the Davis County Cooperative Society. Performance & security by Cloudflare. D. Michael Quinn, former Brigham Young University professor, states, 'The Mormon practice of polygamy enabled men to marry daughters, nieces, cousins, granddaughters and former wives of other General Authorities.'. It is these discredited ideas that foster this genetic legacy. Elden received the covenant of consecration and also the plan of temporal salvation.[2]. Garrad's Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. Kingston Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter, This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 17:32. "'Warren has to be really careful that he doesn't lose his position as a god to these people,' Wyler says. They own many businesses and have ties with hundreds of businesses here in Utah and our neighboring states. "Including Utah, 37 states outlaw first-cousin marriage. . . When the Lord chose Brother Elden through which to send this new covenant, all other covenants were thereby dissolved. The notoriety will just make them zoo specimens. If these couples are . The chickens are coming home to roost. . (The Church lost its authority to give covenants.) Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. . Some of these marriages will include parents who both are carriers of the fumarase deficiency gene, making it certain that more children will be afflicted with the disease. The Kingston Clan is a polygamous group with an estimated 10,500 members. . This child belongs to a family branch that [was] used in the U of U nephritis study. . Kingston began preaching polygamy amongst fellow members of the LDS Church and distributing pamphlets and the book he had co-written, Laman Manasseh Victorious: A Message of Salvation and Redemption to His People Israel, First to Ephraim and Manasseh. "Another of Rugg's full sisters, Andrea Johnson, died in 1992 of complications of pre-eclampsia, a condition of pregnancy that was not treated until after the young girl, swollen with toxic fluid, was rushed to the emergency unit at University Hospital. This means it may be genetically unwise for children of the early leaders to marry other children of early leaders, even now; yet, this tendency still exists in Mormonism. "'We have and will have a continual output of children with this condition,' Tarby says. "'All my life, my family told me I had to marry a Kingston,' says Rugg. At least six of Merlin's incestuously conceived children in turn married half-siblings, couplings that subsequently produced children with various deformities, says Rowenna Erickson, an ex-member who left her polygamous husband. The group also teaches its members that only those with so-called pure blood will survive the apocalypse, according to the lawsuit. Over the past decades, the Kingston Group has maintained extreme secrecy while developing an extensive cooperative system, with wealth in at least 50 corporations in Utah and scattered across the West. . "Gradually, I realized the practice of polygamy, especially in Mormondom, might be a prescription for genetic disease. . . Second, that prophet organizes his followers into missionary forces that dispense the truth to all the world, utilizing the priesthood to perform saving ordinances. . This seemed to apply in my own kindred because those of us who left Mormonism and married outsiders are less riddled with the deleterious genetic legacy than relatives who married within the ancestral Mormon gene pool. . 'We do know there are biological hazards. Men rise in prominence by being obedient and pure of blood and by having large families that can produce a lot of money and workers for the group, the suit continues. "Today, six sons and two daughters of John Ortell and LaDonna have married at least 20 half-sisters, nieces and first cousins, giving birth to a family tree that twists and tangles, and, at times, withers with children born of genetic deficiencies. IF polygamy really is justified in increased breeding, and since MORmON Jesus did institute such a plan according to MORmON history at one time, then how come MORmON god does not follow through and have a lot more females born in such marriages as would be required mathematically to make His This is inadequate information for purposes of establishing the true incidence of consanguinity within a family or community. The girl's father and mother, Susan Nelson (one of John Daniel's many wives) are half-sister and brother. present a troubling scenario for law enforcement: these are crimes of a sexual nature committed in private in a closed society. While they affirm that they now carry the torch first lit by Joseph Smith, their agenda focuses only on plural marriage and their own brand of united order. . "The children afflicted with fumarase deficiency from these three marriages include the grandchildren of Dan Barlow and his brother, the late Louis Barlow, and Merill Jessop, a top aide to fugitive prophet Warren Jeffs. They have been known for systemic inbreeding, child sex abuse, physical abuse, child labor, and tax evasion. . Certainly if MORmON Jesus had done this, we would hear all about it from the LDS as *proof* that God was doing his modern work via MORmONISM, but alas there is no such manifestation ! First, the truth and the priesthood keys are dispensed from heaven to a prophet on earth. 'And when you talk about the public interest, you have to consider who pays for the consequences. According to Kingston teachings, this scripture should not be taken too literally, and all of the efforts commenced through Joseph Smith came to a dead halt in 1934, thereby necessitating Elden Kingston to initiate a new dispensation. . From her article, "Fatal Inheritance: Mormon Eugenics": "[My] cousin], [her sister] and I all grew up to marry and start families of our own. ", ("Understanding Polygamy," from "Humanists of Utah, an Incorporated Utah Non-profit Corporation Has a Mission to Promote Joyful Living, Rational Think)ing, and Responsible Behavior," July 2005, at: http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2005/UnderstandingPolygamy_July-05.html) _____, --Inbreeding for the Lord: the Mutative Aftermath of LDS-"Inspired" Polygamy Among Mormonism's Doctrinal Adherents. And the Genealogy Department advises genealogists to follow only their direct line; in this instance meaning only the wife who is their mother, not other wives of their father. "'They are in terrible shape,' says Dr. Kirk A. Aleck, director of the Pediatric Neurogenetics Center at St. Joseph's Hospital. Certainly the British and French education systems make it clear quite early on (13-14 yrs old). 5, p. 22, "Brethren, I want you to understand that it is not to be as it has been heretofore. I began to think polygamy might be a genetically unsound marriage practice. "Her book . But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. . The 1996 Utah Legislature approved first-cousin marriages, only after age 65, or age 55 if the couple cannot conceive children. . Faced with the forced marriage to an uncle, Rugg left the Kingstons. One child born with an incomplete liver died. An MRI of the brain of one fumarase deficiency child showed that more than half the brain was missing. "15 years ago, a strange-looking child suffering from severe physical maladies and acute retardation was brought into the office of [pedatric neurologist] Dr. Theodore Tarby. ozpoof After all, polygamy is illegal in the US. For instance, Quinn writes, '[O]ver 20 General Authorities were married to such lesser known wives.' . The accusers describe a patriarchal doctrine known as The Law of One Above Another, which they claim designates everyone a rank in the groups hierarchy. breeding really functional? Elden theorized that living the law of consecration was still required, and he set forth to establish his own united order organization. [8][3] There are approximately 3,500 members,[9] some of whom are known to practice polygamy. Then he scooted away, smiling, aboard a plastic toy car, his feet smacking the sidewalk. 'And is that religion popular in heaven?' . ", ("Mormon Polygamy: Frequently Asked Questions," at: http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/polygamy_summary.htm). _____, --How "God's Genes" Do Ugly Things: The Biological Attack on "Modern"-day Followers of Mormonism's Originally-"Revealed" Doctrine of Polygamy. ", "C250 - Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee", "DCCS Self-Sustaining Policy, Contributions to the Community", "The Polygamist Accused of Scamming the U.S. Out of $500 Million", "Former WRE CEO testifies about money paid to DCCS Entities", "Jury Finds Los Angeles Businessman Guilty in $1 Billion Biodiesel Tax Fraud Scheme", "Polygamists Admit $512 Million Fraud for U.S. Fuel-Tax Credits", "CEO And CFO Of Utah Biodiesel Company And California Businessman Charged In $500 Million Fuel Tax Credit Scheme", "WRE Defendants arrested and awaiting trial", "Trial postponed for last defendant in fraud case involving members of the Kingston polygamous family", "Complaint and Jury Demand, Grant, et al. According to Mormonism's top leaders: "Since the founding of the Roman empire monogamy has prevailed more extensively than in times previous to that. . died of multiple sclerosis, also leaving a family of small children behind. The enzyme irregularity causes severe mental retardation, epileptic seizures and other effects that often leaves children unable to take care of themselves. Cases of fumarase deficiency have shown up in the FLDS communities in Colorado City and Hildale, and doctors believe that the incidence of the condition in these communities will increase in coming generations. , says he has firsthand knowledge of multiple fumarase deficiency children in each of the three families. It takes maturity to face the truth, especially if the truth is painful and challenges the family tradition and religious belief structure. my question is: How come MORmON god does not get on board with His own programs? Half and full siblings are marrying in religious ceremonies. Click to reveal "Sterility is another consequence of consanguinity and the evidence of many sterile polygamous wives is overwhelming. . They are quick to point out to reporters that they no longer practice polygamy and excommunicate members who continue to do so. "'It makes you sick; it turns your stomach,' she says. restricted in some polygamous sects, including FLDS groups in Colorado City, Arizona; Hildale, Utah; and West Texas, that force some of the young males to leave the communities . Members today wear normal modern clothing, although they are encouraged to be modest and keep a high standard of dress. "The clan's other numerous incestuous couplings among consenting adults . [23] The group claims no preference for any particular family or surname stating members join every year "from a variety of different backgrounds and surnames. At the time this inbreeding took place these prophets preached and practiced modern eugenic science, the science of controlling the traits of future populations through selective breeding for idealized traits like blond hair, blue eyes and tall stature. Re: Polygamy's Patriarchy-Poisoned Bloodline: The Genetic Catastrophe That Has Sprung from Joseph Smith's "Divine" Breeding Program of Mormon Mutation . Connie Rugg [is] one of John Ortell's estimated 65 children and one of a handful of Kingston relatives who have fled the clan. . "I remembered the studies conducted on my brother and I as children at the University of Utah . . . http://www.azcentral.com/health/news/articles/0209PolygamyBirthDefect09- http://www.childbrides.org/taxes_PNT_forbidden_fruit.html, http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy25.html. [39], The organization continues to publicly denounce the practice of child marriage,[41][39] and maintains that marriages within the group are not coerced. "'My mother should not have produced another baby," says Rugg, also Isabell and John Ortell's daughter and the baby's full sister. One of the guilty pleas states they cycled fraud proceeds through a number of international partners and then back to Washakie's bank accounts, falsely claiming them as loans or profits. The SPLC estimates there are . Polygamy today is comprised of early Mormon polygamy descendants and these families are now interrelated by a factor impossible in monogamy. . The corporation produces goods and services that are used by members, and sold or traded to other cooperatives and to the public. "Religious leaders control all marriages in the community, and many of these relatives have married or likely will marry in the future. Source: Twitter Jessica with her husband and three daughters. . Precisely where Elden obtained valid priesthood authority is a matter of dispute. . [50][51], Davis County Cooperative leadership and members swiftly condemned the fraudulent behavior stating that "[Jacob] broke from tradition in many ways" and stressing "to members and non-members alike that this behavior is not in line with our beliefs or principles." "For us parents the future health and happiness of ourselves, our children and grandchildren are at stake. ", -Apostle George A Smith, "Journal of Discourses," vol. The Prophet Josephs priorities of missionary work, temple ordinances, proxy work for the dead, and feeding the poor appear to have been lost somewhere. "The only long-term solution to the health crisis is for Barlows and Jessops to have children with spouses from outside the polygamist community. David Kingston was released from prison in 2003. . [7] Upon the creation of the LDCJC, most members of the DCCS became members of the church and most retain dual membership in both organizations to this day. Derman was found guilty of masterminding the scheme in March 2020. There is no doubt about that at all. . . . . The Kingstons are members of the Davis County Cooperative Society or the Kingston Order, which practices polygamy. Because God loves that man, and because he honors his word. 'They don't believe anything written about Colorado City [by outsiders, even medical experts] carries much truth,' Tarby says. Tarby asked them to bring the girl to him for an examination. http://www.gallup.com/poll/24388/one-four-americans-think-most-mormons-e http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/homosexual_ruin.htm, http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2005/UnderstandingPolygamy_July-05.html, http://human-nature.com/science-as-culture/walker.html, http://www.renewamerica.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13723. "Intermarriage among close relatives is producing children who have two copies of a recessive gene for a debilitating condition called fumarase deficiency. 'I really doubt that if we could tell them, you know, "This male has the condition and this female has the condition; you shouldn't mate," that wouldn't stop them,' he said. Those unions fell within Utahs consanguinity restrictions and, if discovered, would be considered incestuous under the laws of the state. . Isaac Wyler, a former FLDS member who was excommunicated from the church . . She suffered from. [43] Responding to child marriage allegations in September 2022, the organization told The Guardian that "current policy prohibits plural marriage for members under 18" and "once an individual has made a decision on who to marry, members are encouraged to seek the blessing of their parents, family and/or church leaders, but to say that one individual chooses or heavily influences who will marry who is entirely inaccurate". . Jacob Kingston told prosecutors the company was capable of producing some amounts of biodiesel, but in no year did it ever produce more than 8.5 million gallons. A Kingston Family Primer. Photocopy in authors possession. Fear began to overwhelm me, for the future, and for my own son. . "Rather than polygamy being about religion, Moore-Emmett believes that many polygamous marriages are about sex and power. Jacob Kingston pleaded guilty to 41 charges, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, aiding/assistance in filing a false claim, money laundering and obstruction. People are always trying to find people who are inferior and brand them as such.' One of their daughters married another of the community's founding patriarchs and religious leaders, John Yeates Barlow. When you pair up those undesirable genes, something strange will pop out.'. "Buried quietly on family farms, without notice of birth or death, child death often remains undocumented in polygamy clans. . [7] Some members of the church are also believed to practice consanguineous marriage, or marriage to relatives within the group. . Because the Lord introduced it to his servants in a revelation given to Joseph Smith, and the Lord's servants have always practiced it. Below are further horrific details of the Kingston clan's "God-given genetic calamity, brought to you courtesy of Joseph Smith's Mormonism, as reported in the "Salt Lake Tribune" article, "When Incest Becomes a Religious Tenet": ". "Now 16, Rugg's sister was married to and subsequently left one of her half-brother's sons. Interview with the owner of Desert Tech: The son of Paul's sister Rachel herself a daughter of Ortell and LaDonna Kingston [Nick] Young was the only current member of the Kingston clan, out of the many contacted for this story, who consented to a live, on-the-record interview. "In 1996, the now 31-year-old Kingston mother of two slow-growing children sought explanations at Primary Children's Medical Center. 100 years later, eugenics is a discredited science, yet some followers still believe. 'So often when you have an uncle-niece, or half-brother-sister, you have a situation where abuse is going on,' Jorde says. "The leaders must also understand the ethical considerations of continuing behavior, he says, that is bringing children into the world who suffer tragic deformities. Could my childish intuition that the adults and doctors lips were sealed against my questions involve family secrets; secrets relatives took to their graves rather than betray? . 'The downside is that if you don't start with good genetics, and if there is baggage in the genes of the individual, inbreeding will uncover that baggage. "Like his father-in-law, John Y. Barlow became one of the towering patriarchs of the fundamentalist Mormon community and served as FLDS prophet from 1935 until his death in 1949. . "Tarby said there could be hundreds of victims in coming generations. "While discussing health problems at a family gathering with some of my cousins wives, we discovered astonishingly that three out of four of us, all polygamy descendants, had borne a son with a clubfoot. "Community historian Ben Bistline said most of the community's 8,000 residents are in two major families descended from a handful of founders who settled there in the 1930s. [47][48] The remainder of the transactions (over 94%) were to entities associated with Lev Derman, who prosecutors allege was the mastermind of the scheme. [40] In 2009, the then-Attorney General of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, claimed that child marriages within polygamous societies in Utah, such as the Latter Day Church of Christ, had "effectively stopped". . Reading the ignorant responses of the polygs - particularly in the face of the evidence all around them - makes my blood boil. "'My father manipulated and controlled people,' Rugg says. . . In the l950s, research doctors thought we were one of the few families in the world with this form of nephritis, known as Alports syndrome. Sally Kingston, a wife of one of the brothers, and. KUTV When several businesses inside the Kingston polygamist empire, including Washakie Renewable Energy, was raided by federal agents Wednesday, officials where tight lipped. 'Right away I asked the parents if there were any other children with the same problem.' . . 'Children should not be victims of such programs.'. and Privacy Policy. Outwardly, she appeared to have no sex organs. It is true that the LDS Church has collected tithes and offerings in the millions of dollars over the past decades. . "Among the polygamous Kingstons, a number of children have been born with birth defects, among them one born with two vaginas and two uteruses but no vaginal or bowel opening. They can't sit up. . Article continues below advertisement For the sisters, escaping polygamy is really real. "'This problem is going to get worse and worse and worse,' predicts . For Mormon patriarchs lusting in their hearts for the Polygamy Reunion Tour, hope springs eternal. . . thus marking the first time news media reported this human and civil rights nightmare accurately since the 1850s. Eventually, she admitted she had married her half-brother and given birth to three children. Nobody, from the police to [the governor], cares that these children are abused from conception to marriage.'. Jeffs is following a long-established practice -- started by Smith 170 years ago -- of excommunicating those who do not strictly adhere to church leaders' commands. Then, while still a young man, [my cousin] died of nephritis, the fatal family inheritance. [7] Members of the Latter Day Church of Christ are also members of the Davis County Cooperative Society (a separate organization and legal entity) which practices the law of consecration and United Order. . Thanks for signing up! That apparently was John Ortell Kingston's intent, although most studies of first-cousin mating show their offspring test lower on IQ exams, Jorde says. "Medical experts say the incidence of the disorder will increase because the FLDS community is refusing to accept recommendations to reduce the likelihood of producing babies with fumarase deficiency. Let's revisit the boastful words of Mormon Church Prophet John Taylor and Mormon Church Apostle Heber C. Kimball, both quoted earlier: -Taylor, "Millennial Star," vol. 'I try in my own, quiet way and tell them to outbreed. Several charges of incest would eventually be leveled against various Kingston members.