A state trust fund for a 16-year-old girl allegedly beaten by her polygamist father has grown to $3,000.
The sum includes a $1,000 donation from an Episcopalian minister in Florida, said Laurie Johnson, state Division of Child and Family Services caseworker.The teenager has been in foster care since the alleged May 24 beating at a ranch owned by the Kingston clan in northern Box Elder County. She testified that her father, John Daniel Kingston, was punishing her for running away from her arranged marriage to his 32-year-old brother.
Kingston, 43, pleaded not guilty last week in 1st District Court to a second-degree felony child abuse charge stemming from the incident.
The Florida minister heard about the trust fund via a Web site run by Tapestry of Polygamy, a support group for former members of polygamist groups, Johnson said.
The state Office of Crime Victim Reparations has also agreed to provide $5,400 for remedial education for the 16-year-old, who was removed from public schools by the Kingston clan after she completed the ninth grade.
But there's still a need for more donations since the girl in effect no longer has any family, Johnson said. "If you think about it, she's not going to have any support in the future."
The trust fund is operated by the division's Brigham City office.
Johnson said officials are confident the girl can catch up on two years of schooling in one year under the program she's now attending.
She testified at a July 23 preliminary hearing that her father hit her 28 times with a belt.
The uncle, David O. Kingston, also a member of the polygamist clan believed to number 1,000 or more members, is also being investigated by Salt Lake County police on suspicion of statutory rape.
In addition to the criminal charges, the Utah Attorney General's Office is prosecuting John Daniel Kingston on the child abuse charge through juvenile court.