Home Care In Kingston, UT

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah father and member of the Kingston polygamous clan fought a Salt Lake district court's decision to prohibit him from encouraging his children to adopt his religion's teachings.

The Utah Supreme Court ruled in his favor on Dec. 22, with three of five judges saying the restriction against sharing religious beliefs should be more narrow to address specific concerns rather than a broad prohibition.

When Ryan Kingston and his wife, Jessica Kingston, were in the middle of divorce proceedings, the teachings of the Kingston Group, a polygamous Utah sect also known as "the Order," were a key issue. Jessica argued that the group's religious teachings and practices, including polygamy, are not in her children's best interests.

Third District Judge Andrew Stone agreed that the four children faced potential harm from exposure to their father's religious community. The court found the group's practices of grooming children for marriage at an early age and demonizing people who had left the religion — including their mother — would be harmful to them.

The district court decision said Ryan Kingston "prioritizes plural marriages and adhering to his religious practices" over his children's interests, which was supported by his requests that his children attend Ensign Academy, which emphasizes obedience to the Order.

Jessica Kingston was granted legal custody, but physical custody was given equally to both parents. The court ordered that the children could not be encouraged to adopt teachings of any religion or be baptized without the consent of their mother.

After the divorce was granted but before the court resolved custody issues, Ryan Kingston began practicing polygamy and married two wives, according to court documents.

The Supreme Court's decision

Ryan Kingston did not contest Jessica Kingston's right to determine whether their children are baptized, but argued he has a right to encourage his children to adopt a religion under the 14th Amendment and appealed the decision. He said the district court's order violated his right to free speech and his parental rights.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the father.

"Ryan's loss of legal custody does not mean he is completely bereft of parental rights," the Supreme Court decision states.

The justices told the district court to consider the case again to find a more narrow way to address the issue — but said they do not believe Kingston's argument that the district court did not support its decision.

The state Supreme Court determined that although there is a compelling government interest that the restriction was based on, the restriction should have been more specific to address that directly, citing strict scrutiny — a legal standard applied when considering constitutional rights.

The decision said several states have concluded that after a divorce each parent should be allowed to give religious exposure and instruction and the opinion said it is plausible that the children would benefit from exposure to multiple religions.

However, the three judges, Chief Justice Matthew Durrant, Court of Appeals Judge David Mortensen and Court of Appeals Judge Ryan Tenney agreed with Jessica Kingston that the state should shield children from psychological harm, and protect them from grooming for early marriage or exposure to teachings that ostracize or demonize outsiders. The two Utah Court of Appeals judges were involved in the decision to replace Justice Deno Himonas, who had retired before the case was discussed, and Justice Thomas Lee, who recused himself.

The district court will now consider the case again and work to create a more tailored remedy to address the mother's concerns.

Dissenting opinion

Two of the five judges did not agree with that decision. Associate Chief Justice John Pearce issued a dissenting opinion where he noted that this was an unprecedented step. He said according to statute all parental rights are subject to allocation by the court, after considering a child's best interests.

"Until today, we have followed the statutory framework that makes the child's best interest the paramount concern and permits a court to allocate a fundamental parental right to one parent when presented with evidence that the other parent's exercise of that right risks harm to the child," Pearce said.

The dissenting opinion said it is typically best for children if both parents participate in religious upbringing, but if a parent shows there is a potential harm, the district court can allocate that right to one parent.

Pearce and Justice Paige Petersen did not agree that if a court finds the exercise of a parental right could harm the children that the decision to give that right to one parent should be subject to "strict scrutiny."

The dissenting opinion said Utah law suggests instead considering whether the court found there was potential harm to the child, and that under this standard the restriction against Kingston encouraging his children to follow his religious beliefs should be kept.

"We are presented with an unchallenged factual record that demonstrates that if given the opportunity to influence his children's religious upbringing, Ryan will harm his children," the dissent states.

Police & CourtsSalt Lake CountyUtahReligion

Emily Ashcraft

Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

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Josue Rosario-Caliz of Kingston a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck, N.J., graduated with a doctor of education degree.

Chase Glasspoole of Pine Bush graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham Campus in Madison, N.J., with a master of science degree.

* * *

Corinne Kilmer of Saugerties graduated from Lincoln Memorial University-Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine (LMU-CVM) in Harrogate, Tenn., with a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.

Kilmer attended SUNY Cobleskill for her undergraduate work. She is working as an associate veterinarian at South Peak Veterinary Hospital in Saugerties.

Kilmer is the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Kilmer.

* * *

Nicolas Adams of Canaan graduated from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., with a master of business administration degree.

Gwyneth Kehoe of LaGrangeville graduated from Quinnipiac University, with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering.

* * *

Lauren Serinsky of Hurley graduated from Fairfield University in Connecticut.

* * *

Pamela Rutkowski of Wallkill graduated, magna cum laude, from University of Maryland Global Campus with a bachelor of science degree in social science.

* * *

Lena Schorr-Roztocki of Kingston, a student at SUNY Oneonta, was recognized with a platinum-level leadership milestone through the college’s LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) program.

Two other area residents attending SUNY Oneonta — Elyssa Dewitt of Kerhonkson and Erin Boyle of Pine Bush — were recognized with silver-level leadership milestones through the LEAD program.

LEAD@Oneonta is a comprehensive leadership program based on current research and guidelines from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. All students can choose to participate in the LEAD program, which aims to better prepare them for life after earning their degree by providing a comprehensive picture of leadership and the skills needed to be a good leader.

Schorr-Roztocki, Dewitt and Boyle earned their respective distinctions through a commitment to improving oneself and enhancing knowledge by exploring leadership opportunities, participating in campus organizations, and serving the campus community by taking on recognized leadership roles. Completion of this level requires attending 19 events designated with a learning outcome (three must be diversity events), actively participating in four recognized organizations, completing three online courses (Foundations of Leadership, Personal Development, Organizational Development), and serving as an officer in a club or organization for at least two semesters (average of 219 hours to complete).

Schorr-Roztocki is majoring in childhood education (1-6). Dewitt is majoring in English. Boyle is majoring in early chldhood/childhood education (B-6).

* * *

Tobias Enoch of Napanoch, a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, was a member of the college’s High Power Rocketry Club.

The club achieved its first successful launch at the Spaceport America Cup in New Mexico on June 22. The club launched Capricornus, its solid-fueled rocket. Blasting just beyond its 10,000-foot goal, the 12-foot-long, 70-pound rocket deployed its parachute after reaching an apogee of 10,264 feet and gently returned to the ground.

The launch earned the team the Jim Furfaro Technical Excellence Award and third place in the Payload Challenge, sponsored by Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University.

A member of the Class of 2025, Enoch is majoring in aerospace engineering.

* * *

Alleigh Szabo of Staatsburg, a student at St. Lawrence University in Canton, was granted a university fellowship to perform research on campus this summer.

Szabo collaborated with Assistant Professor Psychology Department Laura Mills-Smith on a project titled “Investigating the Role of Book Content and Book Preferences on Parental and Child Engagement During Shared Reading.”

A Rhinebeck High School graduate, Szabo is a member of the Class of 2024 and is majoring in psychology.

* * *

Three area residents attending SUNY Cortland — Patrick Ross of Woodstock, and Ava Roper and Richard Samuels, both of Wallkill — were named to the State University of New York Athletic Conference Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll.

Student-athletes earn honor roll status if they achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or higher through the spring semester.

* * *

Desmond Teague of Poughkeepsie was named to the president’s list at Minnesota State College Southeast for the spring semester.

Students earn president’s list status by achieving a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

* * *

Fourteen area residents — Paige Stokes, Lauren Siuta, Erica Lagurege, Madison Olson and Damian Duross, all of Kingston; Diamond Mosley of Connelly, Serina Rivera and Savannah Mazzone-Klonowski, both of Port Ewen; Kathryn Vondras of Milton, Owen O’Connell of Highland, Mary Alexander and Patricia Ridenour, both of Gardiner; Gianpierre Espino of Pine Bush and Jai-lei Castro of Cementon — were named to the president’s list at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester for the summer semester.

Students earn president’s list status by achieving a grade point average of 3.7 or higher.

Five area residents — Katie Hagen of Kingston, Laurel Mark of Woodstock, Emma Brown and Debra Nawrocki, both of Kerhonkson; and Janelly Antonio of Highland — were named to the dean’s list at Southern New Hampshire University for the summer semester.

Students earn dean’s list status by achieving a grade point average from 3.5 to 3.69.

* * *

Kyla Misasi of Glasco was named to the dean’s list at Hofstra University in Hempstead for the spring semester.

Students earn dean’s list status by achieving a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

Misasi is majoring in fine arts.

* * *

Three area residents — Emma Navarro of Bearsville, Adrian Peck of Stone Ridge and Margo Picuri of Accord — were named to the dean’s list at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., for the spring semester.

* * *

Two area residents — Brian Sweeney of Rifton and Bethany Hutchings of Rhinebeck — were named to the dean’s list at Washington University in St. Louis in Missouri for the spring semester.

Students earn dean’s list status by achieving a grade point average of 3.6 or higher.

Sweeney and Hutchings are both students in the university’s College of Arts & Sciences.

Woman in wheelchair calls man an 'angel' for rescuing her from a reservoir

A man is being praised for saving a wheelchair-bound woman who fell into a reservoir.

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STANSBURY PARK, Utah — Kelly Roundtree has lived in Stansbury Park long enough to know what things sound like.

Especially during the summer months when kids are taking a dip in the lake to cool off.

“Yeah, it’s nice here,” he said. “I have been here since 2005.”

It’s also why he knew when something just didn’t sound right.

“I wasn’t sure what it was. Actually, it didn’t sound like help at first, it sounded like kids playing,” Roundtree said.

However, when he heard that scream of panic and saw someone in the water across the lake from his house, he knew time was running out.

“It took me like 35 seconds, 40 seconds to get over there,” he said.

Roundtree jumped in his car and drove to the house directly across the lake from him because he knew it would be faster than taking his canoe.

Lisa Kingston is just happy he got there fast.

“When I looked up and I had seen him and I was like, oh my God,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Kingston was the woman in the water yelling for help.

When Roundtree got there, she knew she was going to be okay because he held her head out of the water.

That’s also when Roundtree understood why it was such an emergency.

“The wheelchair is on its side in the water and her face is like, she’s sideways buckled in. She can’t move,” he said.

Kingston had been in her backyard getting some sun in her powered wheelchair she needs after a car accident a few years ago.

For some reason, that wheelchair started sliding down the slope in her backyard toward the lake.

She couldn’t stop it.

When she got to the edge of her backyard, the wheelchair flipped into the water.

With limited use of her arms and legs, Kingston couldn’t get out.

“It was scary. It was so scary,” she said. “You don’t know what to think. Absolutely no idea.”

Fortunately, Roundtree knew what to do until paramedics got there to help.

They said he most likely saved her life.

“What Kelly did on that afternoon was heroic,” Jon Smith, who is with the North Tooele Fire District, said. “He will be the first guy to be humble and tell you he was just doing what everybody else would’ve done, but the fact of the matter is he was the right guy in the right place at the right time.”

Roundtree doesn’t like that word, hero.

“I don’t know about that,” he said.

So, Kingston came up with another one.

“I definitely have an angel,” she said. “Yeah. I mean, I have somebody who was right there.”

It was somebody who cared enough to help.

“I keep downplaying it because it doesn’t seem like there was any alternative,” Roundtree said. “I don’t think that is ever an option, right? Of not doing anything.”

Roundtree and Kingston haven’t met again since this happened last week, but they are planning on getting together soon.

“I can’t wait to talk to him,” said Kingston. “I wouldn’t be here without him.”

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(Courtesy U.S. District Court for the District of Utah) Lev Dermen, left, stands with Jacob Kingston at a banquet hall in Southern California in 2014. Federal prosecutors say this photo is evidence of how Kingston purchased the 2010 Bugatti Veyron, left, for $1.72 million to give Dermen, and Dermen purchased the Ferrari, right to give to Kingston to launder money from a biofuel fraud. Kingston has pleaded guilty to crimes. Dermen has pleaded not guilty. Behind the men is a sculpture of a lion's head, the animal Dermen associates himself with.

On Feb. 3, 2016, Jacob Kingston was in a meeting with a brother and their father. Then a cousin came into the office.

The cousin— an information technology worker for Washakie Renewable Energy, Kingston’s company — had received a phone call from an Ogden phone number. He relayed a message to Kingston.

“There would be a raid on our office the next Wednesday, February 10,” Kingston told a jury Tuesday.

When Kingston called back that number — the caller had rung his cellphone and his brother Isaiah’s minutes earlier, and they both ignored it — it went to a main line at the IRS office in Ogden.

Kingston testified that by the time that raid happened, as warned, he and Washakie already had moved account ledgers and hidden or destroyed computer hard drives.

That wasn’t enough to keep Jacob Kingston and his one-time co-defendant, Lev Aslan Dermen, out of legal trouble. Kingston has pleaded guilty to fraud and other charges related to Washakie — where he was CEO — and was on the witness stand for the fourth day Tuesday to testify against Dermen.

Much of the day’s testimony focused on public corruption — or what Kingston saw as public corruption. Then, in the afternoon, when defense attorney Mark Geragos had a chance to cross-examine the witness, the Los Angeles lawyer focused on Kingston’s polygamous family.

“You have three wives, is that right?” Geragos asked.

“That’s right,” Kingston replied.

Geragos pressed Kingston on how many wives his father has (14, he said) how many siblings he has (he doesn’t know) and how many times he has met with government lawyers (he couldn’t remember).

“More or less than the number of kids you have?” Geragos replied.

Kingston said he has 20 children but that it doesn’t help him remember how many times he met with the government.

Dermen, who has gone by the name Levon Termendzhyan, is charged with 10 counts: two counts of conspiracy and eight counts of money laundering. Kingston has said under oath that he and Dermen operated a fraud that sought biofuel tax credits. Prosecutors say they illegally received $470 million.

Kingston and his family associate with the polygamous Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group or The Order. Dermen allegedly operated what Kingston has called an “umbrella” of protection by making payments to law enforcement — called “the boys” — in the United States and abroad.

Kingston testified Monday that his mother, Rachel Kingston, had told him in 2014 about a grand jury investigation into C.W. Mining, a coal operation near Huntington that had been associated with the cooperative society. Jacob Kingston believed federal prosecutors looking at the mine were pursuing sect leaders, including his uncle and the group’s top man, Paul Kingston, and Bill Stoddard, then the head of sect’s incorporated church.

On Tuesday, Jacob Kingston, told jurors how he informed Dermen of the federal inquiry into that company and the mining operation. To stop the grand jury from scrutinizing the mine, Dermen “said I had to pay $4 million,” Kingston testified.

He went on to testify that he never told his uncle or other family members about the payment. No one associated with the coal mine was indicted.

Also during that time, Washakie needed money to fulfill contracts with legitimate biofuel companies. Kingston testified he never told Paul Kingston about the biofuel scheme but that he told Dermen that the uncle was pushing for a share of money from the scam.

“Levon indicated he had the power or ability to put my uncle in jail,” Kingston said.

That same month, the U.S. Treasury paid Washakie about $164 million in biofuel tax credits. Jacob Kingston testified he and Dermen had expected to receive $140 million and agreed half of that would go to “the boys.” The witness and defendant were to split the rest.

Later in 2015, Kingston testified, he bought Dermen a house in Huntington Beach, Calif., for about $3.5 million as a protection payment for Paul Kingston. Dermen called it the “Obama House,” Jacob Kingston said, for the biofuel tax credit President Barack Obama signed into law.

Also Tuesday morning, Kingston elaborated on his interactions with John Saldivar, the Belize security minister who over the weekend won an election to lead that nation’s ruling party. That put him in line to become the next prime minister. The witness said he remembered meeting with Saldivar in 2014 and 2015 and discussing money for political campaigns.

“He told us he had three or four individuals,” Kingston said, “part of his party and their intent to get reelected.”

Dermen offered to pay money to Saldivar to finance the campaigns, Kingston said. Then, in a series of text messages from Feb. 11, 2014, and shown to the jury, Saldivar reported Dermen wasn’t paying the $25,000 a month he said he would.

“Really need the February tranche,” Saldivar texted.

Kingston agreed to pay $50,000 to cover two months. He offered to wire the money, but Saldivar wrote that wasn’t a good idea. Kingston said he would send a business partner to Miami with the money.

“OK," Saldivar wrote back, “I will head to Miami thursday.”

Saldivar has denied taking any bribes.

Kingston testified he didn’t know whom the tipster at the IRS was, though he was told the person went by the name “Mr. Green.”

An IRS representative in Utah did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah declined to comment on the coal mine case or whether there was any obstruction, citing the Dermen trial.

Geragos’ cross-examination will continue Wednesday.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Amid increased enforcement efforts in the region, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed nearly $17,000 in penalties to a Salt Lake City-based restaurant supply company connected to the polygamous Kingston sect that was in violation of child labor laws, the department announced Tuesday.

A federal investigation found Specialty Consulting Services LLC — operating as Standard Restaurant Supply — allowed 22 employees between the ages of 14 and 15 to work as many as 46 hours per workweek and to begin work after midnight, both of which are illegal practices under child labor laws, specifically the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation also found that Standard Restaurant Supply "failed to keep accurate time records including the date of birth for one minor-aged employee," another violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's recordkeeping provision.

In response to the investigation, the division assessed $16,595 in penalties "to resolve the child labor violations."

A year ago, the division's Southwest Region released a reminder to Salt Lake City-area employers reiterating the importance of complying with federal child labor laws and said that it would be "stepping up its efforts to identify child labor violations in the Salt Lake City area."

"We urge employers in the region to gain a full understanding of child labor regulations and ensure they are abiding by the law, or they should be prepared to face costly consequences," Kevin Hunt, Wage and Hour Division district director in Salt Lake City, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the labor department announced that Utah soda and dessert shop Sodalicious violated federal child labor laws at its Midvale, Orem, Provo and South Jordan locations.

"The division determined that Sodalicious allowed 14 and 15-year-old employees to work past 7 p.m. when school was in session, after 9 p.m. during summer months and more than 3 hours on a school day at four of its Utah locations," the department said in a release.

"Employers like Sodalicious are legally responsible for knowing and complying with federal child labor laws and making sure their employment practices do not jeopardize the safety of young workers or interfere with their education," Betty Campbell, Wage and Hour southwest regional administrator, said in a statement.

In response to the Sodalicious locations violating the fair labor act, the division assessed the company with $13,946 in penalties to resolve the infractions.

The latest investigations by the labor department come after it was revealed in December that 11 Crumbl Cookie locations, including four in Utah (Bountiful, Centerville, Layton and Ogden locations), were in violation of child labor laws.

"Minors as young as 14 and 15 years old not only worked beyond permitted hours but more than half of them were employed in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act by being allowed to work long shifts often exceeding eight hours," Hunt said.

Founded in 1980, Specialty Consulting Services LLC has nine locations throughout Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

The company's Better Business Bureau profile lists Ellery Kingston as the president of Standard Restaurant Supply. A 2003 blog post, written by Ellery Kingston, on the Davis County Cooperative Society, a northern Utah polygamous sect often referred to as "the Kingstons" by outsiders, also mentions the company.

In September, 10 plaintiffs, mostly women, filed a 109-page lawsuit against 24 identified and 20 unidentified members of "the Order" — another moniker of the Kingston polygamous sect — alleging rampant abuse and exploitation.

The federal department's Wage and Hour Division in 2022 found more than 3,800 minors employed in violation of child labor laws in the U.S. — an increase of 37% over the previous year, according to the data.

"Our investigators continue to see an increase in child labor violations in several industries. We will take vigorous action whenever we discover young workers' safety and well-being are being jeopardized by employers who fail to follow the law," Hunt added.

Standard Restaurant Supply didn't respond to requests for comment from KSL.com.