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The founder and leader of the organization, Rabbi Philip Berg, born Feivel Gruberger, in
Brooklyn, is a former insurance salesman who left his wife and children to become a
spiritual leader. (Daily Mail, Internet, 5/1/04)
Kaufman Treatment Center/Kaufman House Residential Treatment Center
Facility Heads Charged with Involuntary Servitude
Arlan and Linda Kaufman have been arrested and accused of physically abusing and
virtually enslaving patients at the Kaufman Treatment Center, a mental health facility
they run on their Newton, KS, farm. The Kaufmanns allegedly forced mentally ill adults to
do farm work in the nude, used a stun gun to shock a resident on his stomach, testicles,
and feet in front of other residents, and punished some by taking their clothes away.
Authorities say the couple had failed to provide any treatment to residents for 15 years. The
Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board suspended Arlan Kaufman‘s license to practice
following allegations of sexual exploitation in 1991. This May, the Department of Social and
Rehabilitation Services suspended the Kaufmans‘ guardianship over a mentally disabled
woman in her 50s who said she had been sexually abused for years. (AP in New York Times,
Internet, 10/28/04)
Kingston Clan/The Order
Polygamist Loses Custody
A Salt Lake City judge has approved a petition on behalf of the 13-year-old daughter of
John Daniel Kingston, head of the polygamous Kingston Clan, to be placed in the
permanent custody of the child‘s maternal uncle and his wife. A court earlier determined
that Kingston had abused his daughter and that her mother had neglected her by not
stopping the abuse. (AP, Internet, 7/26/04)
Defamation Suit Against Victim Dismissed
A suit for defamation brought by members of the polygamous Kingston Clan [The Order]
against a woman who says the group fosters sexual abuse of young girls through illegal
marriages, incest, and polygamy, has been dismissed by Utah‘s Second District Court.
Twenty-two-year-old Mary Ann Kingston, whose Third District Court suit names 242
members and 97 clan businesses as defendants, was beaten by her father when she ran
from a polygamous marriage to her uncle at the age of 16. The judge ruled that statements
made by Kingston and her lawyers at a news conference did not defame the plaintiffs. He
said the remarks were so general and regarding a group so large that no individual member
of the group of defendants could claim any harm. (AP, Internet, 8/20/04)
Latter-day Church of God/The Order
Alleged Child Abuse in Polygamous Clan Detailed
John Daniel Kingston, and Heidi Foster, one of his wives, are in court defending
themselves against charges of abuse brought by two of his daughters, 13 and 15, who say
their parents systematically beat and psychologically abused them. The Kingstons are
members of Utah‘s Latter Day Church of God, or The Order, some 1,200 adherents
who believe in and practice polygamy.
The children, now in state custody after running away from home, spoke on tape about
the abuse. Kingston — who operates a $150 million business ―empire‖ with operations in
six states, and who has 106 children by 14 wives living in a number of separate
households — denies the charges and believes the proceeding is ―a fishing expedition‖ for
information about the increasingly condemned practice of polygamy. He maintains his

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 123
daughters‘ testimony was ―coached,‖ pointing out that they had been out of the home for
90 days when first questioned.
The 13-year-old says her father forced children to eat rotten food he dug out of the
garbage and drink spoiled milk. Then, ―he let them throw up and (made) them drink it. ..
Arrest my dad and have him be in jail forever, or else do to him what he‘s done to us,‖
said the girl. She called police when Kingston allegedly threatened them for piercing their
ears. He says: ―We believe we should keep our bodies complete. If the Lord wanted us to
have holes in our ears, he would have put them there.‖
Kingston allegedly once dragged a pregnant Heidi Foster down a set of stairs by the hair,
according to the 13-year-old, and when confronted later about the incident said, ―Oh, are
you sure it wasn‘t a dream?‖ A complaint filed by the state guardian office says Foster is
culpable for failing to protect the girls.
The state could try to remove all of Kingston‘s children if it is determined he abused the
two now in custody. The 13-year old doesn‘t want the other children removed from
Kingston‘s households. ―Just take my dad away. Either you can get 100 kids or get one
guy. Which one is easier? I think it‘s right to take my dad instead ...of making the kids
and the moms suffer.‖ (KSL TV News, Internet, 5/25/04 Leigh Dethman, Deseret Morning
News, Internet, 5/26/04)
Polygamist Ruled Abusive to Daughters
Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez ruled in Salt Lake City that John Daniel Kingston, a
wealthy businessman, father of an estimated 100 children, and a leader of the polygamous
Kingston Clan/The Order, abused two of his daughters. The judge gave temporary
custody of the girls to an aunt and uncle who are not members of the group. They‘ll be able
to visit their mother, Heidi Foster, whom the judge said was negligent in not protecting
them. Kingston, who was ordered to keep away from all ten of his children by Foster unless
the visits are supervised, pleaded no contest in 1999 to felony abuse after beating a 16-
year-old daughter for running away from a prearranged polygamous marriage to one of his
brothers. (AP in New York Times, Internet, 6/4/04)
Judge Valdez also ordered that the Foster children be given new birth certificates, with his
name on them, in order to ensure their inheritance rights and to end alleged efforts to hide
his links to them.
The head of the state Guardian ad Litem office says she took the lead in pressing the case
against Kingston because the Division of Child and Family Services ―has a view that you
need to be tolerant of different people‘s cultures. They viewed this as a polygamy case and I
was viewing it as a child abuse and neglect case.‖
In February, two of Kingston‘s children, ages 2 and 4, were found wandering along a busy
street and taken home to an ―extremely filthy and unsanitary‖ house. DFCS has provided
Foster with 54 months of homemaking lessons and periodic supervision. A DFCS
spokeswoman said her agency was ―looking at long-term solutions for those girls. We don‘t
feel that just putting them into foster care is a long-term solution.‖ (AP in Casper Star
Tribune, Wyoming, Internet, 6/18/04)
Lord’s Resistance Army
Abducted Girl Relates Experiences
Charlotte Awino, freed earlier this year from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) after more
than eight years‘ in captivity, tells of abduction from her home village in 1996, as a 14-
year-old, and life as a virtual slave, taught to kill. The rebel LRA has been fighting the