Judge orders Kingston to pay for child support

Murky finances: In a hearing revolving around the family income, he rejects the polygamist’s suggested payments

Third District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez didn’t buy John Daniel Kingston’s claim he makes only $20,000 a year.

Or that Heidi Mattingly can adequately feed and clothe their nine children still at home on $2 a day and occasional “gifts” from Kingston such as a box of potatoes.

And the judge found a suggestion that Kingston provide support of $570 a month to Mattingly, also known as Heidi Foster, and their children a far cry from what they need.

Instead, on Wednesday, Valdez temporarily ordered Kingston to pay $3,100 a month - $2,700 in child support and $400 toward Foster’s rent - until a Nov. 3 hearing in which Kingston, a polygamist, will be required to furnish more detailed financial information.

Wednesday’s hearing, which stretched nearly five hours, was the latest attempt by Valdez to sort out whether the couple’s children are being adequately cared for by Mattingly, 32, and Kingston, 49.

Still at issue is whether a 15-year-old daughter now in foster care should be returned home. Valdez already has placed a 13-year-old daughter in the permanent custody of Foster’s brother and his wife, who are not members of the polygamist Kingston clan.

In November, Valdez will review psychological evaluations on the couple and their children. He also will take a stab at resolving convoluted and conflicting information Mattingly and Kingston provided about their income, expenses and ability to support their children.

According to previous court testimony, Mattingly is one of approximately 14 “wives whom Kingston has approximately 120 children.

Mattingly, who described her situation as a “wonderful, wonderful life,” provided financial documents showing that she made just over $10,600 last year as a photographer for Advanced Copy and Printing in Taylorsville, a Kingston   business. She listed her monthly expenses at $1,342 a month. That’s about $4,000 more a year than she makes - one reason Assistant Attorney General Carolyn Nichols argued Mattingly failed to accurately state her finances, assets or the aid she gets from Kingston and the clan.

The documents show that after paying $375 toward rent, utilities and other fixed expenses, Mattingly has only $500 left for food and other household necessities, or as Valdez pointed out, just $2 a day for each person in her home.

Mattingly also acknowledged she owes at least “several thousand dollars” to the Davis County Cooperative Society, operated by the Kingstons. She borrowed the money to “take care of my kids,” she said, and has to repay it “in her lifetime.”

In previous court testimony, one daughter said Mattingly owes the society $30,000.

Mattingly said Kingston pays part of her rent - $400 a month, according to his later testimony - and occasionally gives her money and “gifts,” such as “a box of potatoes” or a “lawn mower.”

For his income, Kingston submitted tax documents showing he makes about $20,000 a year working for A-1 Disposal, one of the many businesses that are part of the $150 million Kingston business empire.

Kingston said he has maxed out a $230,000 credit line from Fidelity Funding, which is operated by the Kingstons’ Davis County Cooperative Society. He said he used the credit loan, as well a credit card, to support his various families; payments on those debts are just over $1,700 a month, according to documents he submitted.

He said Rachael Ann Kingston, his legal wife and mother to 13 children, pays the rent on their home and many of their other expenses. He listed no financial obligations to his other families, and invoked the Fifth Amendment   right to remain silent when asked about some of these women and their children.

Nichol questioned Kingston’s income claims and his connection to a dozen other Kingston enterprises, which list a “John Daniel Kingston” as registered agent or principal in state filings. Those businesses include Coop Coal, C.W. Mining, Triple AAA Security and Ibapah Ranch.

But Kingston said most of those refer to his and Rachael’s 29-year-old son, John Daniel Kingston Jr., and claimed to be unclear about his role in other enterprises.

Kingston’s attorney, Daniel Irvin, suggested his client could afford to pay $570 monthly - the $400 rent plus child support, which Valdez quickly shot down.

“One hundred seventy dollars a month and a box of potatoes is not going to cut it,” Valdez told Irvin as he ordered the far higher amount of child support. Earlier this month Valdez, ordered Kingston to perform 40 hours of community service for violating a no-contact order in March, after his two teenage daughters were taken into state custody following a dispute over getting their ears pierced.

Kingston worked at the St. Vincent de Paul Center’s homeless shelter. “I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Kingston told Valdez. “I met a lot of good people.”

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