Kingston Faces Abuse Allegations

Kingston Faces Abuse Allegations


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Kimberly Houk reporting A Utah polygamist faces disturbing new allegations of sexual abuse in court.

John Daniel Kingston, Father: "I was very surprised. If anyone knew our family they would know that those things could never be true."

Those revelations in family court could bring criminal charges against John Daniel Kingston.

He came to court for the right to visit ten of his children who are in state custody. But the children's foster mother offered troubling testimony when she took the stand.

She spoke explicitly about what Kingston's 5-year-old daughter told her happens when she prays with her father.

Graphic details about the positions they take during prayer, and what the girl told her about always being touched by "the hand of God" when she prays with her dad.

John Daniel Kingston, Father:: “I'm not aware of any of that, that's not the proper way we pray."

John Daniel Kingston seemed shocked and surprised by the newest allegations about sexual abuse revealed in court by the foster mother of his younger children.

But a doctor's report, entered as evidence in court, points to physical evidence that Kingston's 5 and 7-year-old daughter's had been sexually molested.

Daniel Irvin, Kingston's Attorney: “We were a little surprised to hear these new allegations."

Surprised, and unprepared to address them in court.

But Kingston's attorney was ready to fight for his client's right to continue seeing his children.

The judge took away Kingston's supervised visits with his children a month ago, after reports that he used them to control his children's emotions and behavior.

Reporter: “What do you think about them saying that you manipulate your children during visits?

John Daniel Kingston: “It's not true."

The State says it is true, and supervised visits with their father are not good for the children.

Today, the judge heard testimony from both the State and the foster mother about the kid's behavior prior to, and right after visits with their father.

Reporter:: “What do you think about the state saying your children fear you? “

John Daniel Kingston: “That's not true at all."

The foster mother says the kids lose control of their bodily functions right before the visits, and continue to wet the bed for several nights after seeing their father. The State says the kids avoid eye contact with their dad during the visits.

Testimony that Kingston says is nothing more than religious persecution by the State, and says he should get his kids back.

John Daniel Kingston: “I love them very much and I hope that they'll be coming home soon."

This case is only about Kingston's relationship with his children by one wife.

He has more than a hundred children with 13 other wives, and state investigators are reviewing his relationships with all of them.

And as for the allegations of sexual abuse, we don't know if a criminal investigation has been ordered, but we can tell you that criminal prosecutors from the Attorney General's office were in court today.

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