Polygamist Mafia: Escaping The Kingston Clan

in the order you weren't taught to question the authority of the leaders not only everything you ever make but everything you ever do and everything you ever will be has to be turned into the order your whole life is dedicated for it only Kingston clan is thought of as a massive enterprise that could easily be worth millions of dollars the Kingston clan has their fingers in all kinds of businesses runs their business and runs their family kind of like a religious communist Enclave members get a paycheck from the Kingston clan from those businesses that they work for but then that money goes right back into the clan that the majority we're hearing going right to the top agents also served warrants at the four million dollar home of Washakie CEO Jacob Kingston son of Clan Lee John Daniel Kingston my dad is John Daniel Kingston and people on the outside call the Kingston clan and it's just the Kingston group based on wee fundamentalist Mormons my dad has 14 wives counting my mom and I have 13 siblings on my mom's side and 157 siblings on my dad's side uncle's marrying nieces and brothers marrying sisters from other mothers my mom and dad had the same father and their dads or tell Hewson yep that's pretty weird my dad too didn't know him she didn't pay the bills he didn't he didn't come over for birthdays nothing in 2013 my mom got really sick because she had colon cancer and my dad convinced her to try some type of treatment that he thought could work instead of going to like the hospital and stuff so she she tried that and she got really sick when she actually did pass away then my dad and the leaders just just took an inventory of all of her stuff and then said if you want it you can buy it otherwise we're just gonna sell it on Cassell and I have one thing it's like a silver bell and she used it when she was sick if she needed help that's the only thing that I got yeah nice six of 2015 my dad said the next day you need to pack your bags and figure out where you're gonna live if you left the order then you can't see or talk or hang out with with anyone like that's in the order still so it's been nine months since I've seen my dad and you know he didn't think I would actually pack my bags and figure out where I was gonna live I think it was more of a threat than anything because he wants me back now when they have a struggle or Daniel gets upset and kicks him out they know they can come here and one day Joe showed up like can I stay here and I was like okay I'm Joe's older sister I am the oldest out of 13 kids and I also have nine kids and I was married when I was 16 to the leaders firstborn son and I was his seventh wife in the church he required to have a baby every single year and you're required to stay skinny and you're required to pay all your bills and keep up the household all by yourself I had a few miscarries that were very deadly and at the very end I my I was pregnant and the baby had died and then my body wouldn't pass it I was a Miss to miscarry so my stomach started swelling and I was getting septic and they had a magical tea to make me have the baby after all those teas and everything they could see that I my body was not gonna release the baby and I was deathly ill my husband decided he was too busy to deal with me that day so I stayed home passed out the whole day and when he came I picked up the phone call the doctor and he attacked me and at that point I realized something was completely wrong finally I got a doctor's appointment and got into the doctor and got the baby out I kept all the kids with me and I found a way to survive with six kids this Sunday my dad asked me if I would meet with him to figure out how I can get back to the order he's definitely gonna be trying to convince me to go back you can do whatever you want I just wouldn't do it myself yeah so if you have something to say to him go have fun with that you dislocated my jaw you got a good shot I sure appreciate what it hit him back okay I was like whatever yeah cuz I didn't know how bad it was until I left as long as you know I love and care about you that's what matters yeah when I was 14 I believe that magic was real so I started learning illusions so people wouldn't know the difference between the real magic and the fake magic I never actually learned the real magic but it did kind of open up my eyes a little bit learning illusions becoming more educated and starting to question a little bit more after realizing okay this something I believed in really big wasn't real then I started thinking just more realistic and logical and I started question when I met Joe it was exciting because he had this dream of doing magic and when I learned his story on how he used magic as an escape to his life I was just so touched I fell in love with him my name is Christine Marie I'm the founder of voices for dignity we help survivors of religious abuse polygamy and human trafficking you know I had an experience with this in my own life I believed in him in a prophet and I was subjected to cult mind-control and human trafficking and our home is like a safe home a very fun kind of safe home and we taken kids from polygamy they wanted me to marry my first cousin because they say that they want to keep the bloodline pure they kept pushing that on me and that's why I left after coming here and meeting Christina it was like a really good feeling knowing that I could decide what I wanted for my life whether I did what kids or I just wanted to stay single forever when people leave a cult they haven't an enormous wound because everything that's familiar to them is in their group and another thing that the public doesn't realize is that there are also beautiful things within those communities we have to be careful not to do one-size-fits-all and say just because there are many many bad things that are in that lifestyle are in that group that there's nothing good to pull people like Joe to come back I mean there's his family who he loves dearly his brothers especially but there's also certain doctrines and comfort in their rituals their traditions when you're out in the real world and you don't really know what the purpose of your life is anymore you know you wonder it yesterday I talked with my dad he wanted me to go back I just told him I'd have to think about it he was nice to me he just said are you long me and then I told him I yes I am and he says if you want to see your family again then you can come back and he told me what he expects me to do to go back work where he wants me to work and do what he wants me to do and like pay a fee he said it could range from two thousand three thousand or five thousand but he said however much it is you have to be ready to just pay pay however much I still can't wrap my head around the beliefs so I'm not probably not gonna go back but I don't yeah I'm not gonna go back we criminalize poor words if we let rights to taking away your rights would get taken money - we should get our choice just like you chose to be gay Jinxy standing up for rights but it still creates this inequality between men and women you know regardless of right hope I don't meet any order members cuz it'll be kind of awkward because we all know each other so they don't know who I am what do you think is the reason for the bill do you think it's because people hate the polygamists what why do you think people care that's really an irrelevant question no it's very important you don't have the right to form our families according to our choices if we're adults we either have that right or we don't that's the issue what everyone forgets in every discussion that I had with any of the pro polygamy people they kept pounding on the issue of choice this is not about choice when you're an adult sure I mean people over 18 can make their own choices but they have children the children in polygamy did not choose to be born with a hundred and sixty nine siblings when you have that many children with one father how can that father possibly be emotionally invested in those children I saw how sensitive he was when he saw people from his his religious group did you hurt okay okay it's okay okay and I understand that because he associates so much pain with having been kicked out of the group and having been through what he's been through like when you saw your dad did you like were you drawn to like go back it's part of you it's okay you can be honest like part of me probably part of me yeah but for the most part yeah it's worried about you because I know that's a very emotional like shredding kind of things it's Priscilla went through it too you don't you know Priscilla oh yeah yeah yeah I want you I want to introduce you but she heard that I was in the dado is he here then can you show me when she made the decision to leave I didn't tell her that things up and her she can do whatever she would like to do right and she did and she chose to Eli told us her choice yeah we love her I mean we really love her you know I don't want you Kingston's to think oh this one really messed up no no she is a good egg when you leave you go through everything that you're afraid of like you're in this really big depression and you don't know how to get out of it it takes a really really long time like I I'm still really struggling with it even though I've been gone for a year I love to help any one of these people who've had all of their opportunities and dreams just crushed to you know get their wings again and feel beautiful accomplish their goals and just fly in the next few months while he's thinking about it all I really hope to help them you know find his independence and experience the fullness of life and playfulness and and the magic of of magic he said your mind is the key that sets you free oh isn't that perfect that is perfect well getting people to question stuff that's because healthy so I'm gonna continue on doing magic fix maybe someone will see it and start questioning hey do you want to see an awesome magic trick guaranteed to blow your mind

Channel: VICE

Views: 6,650,252

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, interview, interviews, culture, wild, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, funny, funny videos, journalism, vice guide, vice presents, vice news, vbs.tv, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, MORMONS, kingston clan, the kingston clan, latter day church of christ, polygamy, polygamists, Utah, salt lake city, SLC, LDS church, kingston group, magic, LAS VEGAS, magicians, religion, cults, christians

Id: GwoO7Nekmpw

Length: 15min 28sec (928 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 09 2016