Judge says Kingston manipulated kids

Some of John Daniel Kingston's children have been in state custody for months but are still afraid he'll hurt them.

That fear was enough for a juvenile court judge to yank the alleged polygamist's visitation rights for 11 of his 100-plus children. Third District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez also ruled Monday that Kingston was trying to manipulate his children during the weekly visits.

Instead of spending quality time with his children during scheduled visits, Kingston tries to sway their testimony in his criminal case, court documents say.

"He is more interested in complaining about me than visiting with his children," said Curtis Giles, the Division of Child Family Services case manager assigned to the Kingston case.

Ten of the children Kingston fathered with Heidi Mattingly have been in state custody since June, when Valdez ruled Kingston abused them and that their mother failed to protect them. Since then, Kingston's interaction with the children has been limited to weekly supervised visits.

Monday, Valdez halted all visits until further notice.

In an affidavit obtained by the Deseret Morning News, Giles said "continued visitation with Mr. Kingston is not in the best interest of the children as it increases their anxiety and worry, and some of the children are afraid of him."

Kingston's 4-year-old son consistently soils himself prior to and after visits with his father, and his 9-year-old son wets the bed the night before scheduled visits with Kingston, Giles said.

"The children are terribly anxious and aggressive following visits with their father," he said.

Some of the children have expressed fear of being returned to the home, Giles said. A 5-year-old girl told Giles she was afraid to "get hurt."

Earlier this year, Valdez ruled both Mattingly and Kingston cannot threaten or use physical or verbal violence to discipline the children. But one of the children's foster parents overheard Mattingly threaten her 9-year-old son that "he would have to deal" with Kingston for behaving poorly during one of her scheduled visits.

The family landed in court after Kingston threatened two of his teenage daughters for piercing their ears without his permission. The girls, ages 13 and 16, told police they were afraid of their father, who threatened to rip out their earrings for going against his wishes.