Inside the Kingston Cult: Inbreeding, Human Rights Violations, and the Fight for Justice

C. Elden Kingston as a Young Man

In the shadows of Salt Lake City, Utah, a secretive fundamentalist sect known as the Kingston Group—or Davis County Cooperative Society—has operated for decades under a veil of religious piety. Behind closed doors, however, survivors describe a system built on coerced marriages, inbreeding, child exploitation, and widespread human rights violations.

The Kingston Group’s Cultic Control and Inbreeding Legacy

Founded in 1935 by Elden Kingston, the group’s belief system is rooted in an extremist interpretation of Mormon doctrine. Polygamy and “blood purity” are central tenets. Under this ideology, members are encouraged, and often pressured, to marry close relatives, including first cousins, uncles, and even half-siblings. These incestuous unions are framed as divine obligations to preserve the group’s “royal bloodline.”

The genetic consequences have been devastating. Medical reports and testimonies from ex-members detail a pattern of birth defects, developmental disorders, and rare hereditary conditions. Many of these are treated internally, often without proper medical supervision, in an effort to avoid external scrutiny.

Current leader Paul Elden Kingston is rumored to have over 25 wives and more than 300 children, many of whom are products of consanguineous marriages. This insular breeding system ensures power remains concentrated within a small circle of elite families, at the cost of the health and autonomy of their descendants.

Human Rights Abuses Hidden Behind Religious Doctrine

For many raised in the Kingston Group, inbreeding is just one aspect of a larger web of human rights violations. Survivors have described childhoods steeped in control, secrecy, and fear. Girls are groomed to marry young, sometimes as young as 15 or 16. while boys who defy the system are often exiled, becoming what are known as “lost boys.” These expelled teens are left to survive without money, education, or family support.

Members are discouraged, or outright forbidden, from seeking employment or education outside the group’s many front businesses, including pawn shops, tech companies, and construction firms. This economic dependence makes escape nearly impossible for many. Critics and former members have described the system as "multigenerational human trafficking."

Legal Battles and Rising Federal Pressure

In recent years, federal authorities have increased their scrutiny of the Kingston Group. A 2023 Department of Justice investigation revealed allegations of financial fraud, labor exploitation, and systemic sexual abuse. Numerous businesses tied to the group are accused of using child labor, misappropriating federal subsidies, and laundering profits through cooperative accounts.

One of the most damning lawsuits came in 2024, when a former member alleged she was forced to marry her biological uncle at age 16. The suit accuses the Kingston leadership of running a criminal enterprise under the guise of religion, citing violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Other legal actions are emerging, bolstered by a wave of survivor testimonies. Advocacy organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, have called for greater federal intervention and new legislative safeguards for children raised in religiously isolated communities.

The Fight for Justice and Reform

As more former members speak out, the Kingston Group faces a reckoning. But accountability won’t come easily. The sect's tight internal structure, intergenerational control, and immense wealth have allowed it to operate with impunity for decades.

What’s at stake isn’t just the exposure of religious hypocrisy—it’s the lives of thousands raised under coercion, exploitation, and biological harm. The issue of inbreeding within the Kingston Group is not a grotesque anomaly; it is a systemic abuse of power enabled by fear, ignorance, and legal gaps in religious oversight.

Ending the cycle will require more than lawsuits. It will demand policy reforms, vigilant media coverage, and a national reckoning with how religious freedom can be exploited to justify human rights abuses.