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Jeremy Ortell Kingston, in court for his October hearing, with his wife Benny, was sentenced to jail Monday for felony incest with a girl, 15. (Rick Egan/Tribune file photo) By Stephen
Hunt | The
Salt Lake Tribune
With one of his three
purported wives and four of his 17 children looking on, polygamist Jeremy Ortell
Kingston was sentenced Monday to a year in jail for "marrying" and having sex
with a 15-year-old cousin.
Before sentencing, Kingston apologized profusely, said he accepted responsibility for committing incest and begged 3rd District Judge Michael Burton to allow him to remain free to work and support his family. The victim, Lu Ann Kingston, now 24, said only jail time would send a message to the defendant and other members of the powerful and secretive Kingston clan. "Otherwise, Jeremy and the clan will continue to break the law," Lu Ann Kingston said. "They will continue to marry off child brides." In addition to jail time, the judge placed Jeremy Kingston on probation for 36 months and ordered him to complete sex-offender treatment and undergo a psychosexual evaluation. In exchange for Kingston's guilty plea to one count of third-degree felony incest, Assistant Utah Attorney General Polly Samuels agreed not to recommend a prison term of up to five years. Burton ordered Kingston to report to jail next week. Monday's hearing marks the second time in five years a Kingston clan member has been convicted and sentenced for having sexual relations with a close relative. Following a highly publicized jury trial in 1999, David Ortell Kinston -- who is 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. David Kingston was released last year after serving four years behind bars. The Kingstons reportedly practice intermarriage -- although most are spiritual marriages sealed without legal certificates -- to keep their blood line pure. In 1935, Charles Elden Kingston formed the polygamous order after purportedly receiving divine inspiration while fasting and praying in a cave near Bountiful. When Charles Kingston died in 1948, his brother, John Ortell Kingston, took the reins. The Woods Cross dairy farmer began applying to his family the same inbreeding techniques he used to increase milk production in his cows, say former clan members. Until recently, the 1,200 or so family members who make up the Latter-Day Church of Christ quietly ran numerous business enterprises, which have an estimated worth of $150 million. The reclusive clan was forced into the open in May 1998 when the 16-year-old girl who had married David Kingston went to the police after her father, John Daniel Kingston, belt-whipped her until she passed out because she ran away from her husband. Attorney Carl Kingston conceded that Jeremy Kingston has "an alternative lifestyle," but insisted he is no sex offender and that the victim was not forced to marry him. Jeremy Kingston told the judge there was a mutual attraction with his cousin. "We began to fall in love," he said. "We both wanted" a relationship. Lu Ann Kingston admitted she agreed to marry in May 1995, but said she had little choice given the brainwashing and social pressures within the clan. She said that when she told Jeremy Kingston she felt too young for marriage, he replied that his other wives were 15 and 16 when he married them. Before fleeing in May 2000, Lu Ann Kingston had two daughters with Jeremy Kingston. Now remarried, Lu Ann Kingston recently gave birth to a boy and is raising the girls, ages 4 and 6. She said she reported Jeremy Kingston to police hoping to set an example for other polygamy wives. He was arrested last summer in Bountiful. "It needs to stop," Lu Ann Kingston said. "They are not above the law. God is not protecting them." [EMAIL PROTECTED] � Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. All material found on Utah Online is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune and associated news services. No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.>> |
