 |
Paul Elden Kingston | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office August 25, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John Ortell Kingston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1959 Utah,United States |
| Spouses | At least 27 |
| Children | 300+ |
| Parent | John Ortell Kingston |
Paul Elden Kingston (born 17 December 1959) is an accountant and attorney who has served as the Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS),a Mormon fundamentalist denomination, [1] [2] since 1987. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935.
Kingston studied at the University of Utah Law School and was admitted to the Utah State Bar in 1990. [3]
Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the Trustee-in-Trust of the DCCS upon his father's death in 1987. During his tenure,some members have continued the practice of plural,and intra-family marriage, [4] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group. [5]
Plural marriage is practiced by some members of the DCCS,and members make their own choice in who they marry. [5] Plural marriages for individuals under 18 in the group are not allowed. For more than a decade,the group has publicly spoken out against child-bride marriages and the DCCS has a policy encouraging its members to marry within the legal age of consent. [6] [7] [8] [9] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group. [10]
Records show he signed as a witness on 4 lawful teenage marriages over a 20 year period. There are thousands of members in the group. [10]
He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past,potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 children. [11] [12]
