The Utah Attorney General's Office is investigating another sexual-abuse case against a member of the Kingston clan, an attorney said in court Monday.
Assistant Attorney General Carolyn Nichols said the state is investigating Arlen Kingston for allegedly sexually abusing his niece, who is currently in foster care while her parents' child abuse case is adjudicated.
The hearing in 3rd District Juvenile Court was to determine whether the girl's mother, Heidi Mattingly, should gain back custody of her children with polygamist John Daniel Kingston.
In April, 3rd District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez ordered reunification efforts be stepped up and visitation restored to Mattingly in an effort to gradually reunite the children with their mother, if Mattingly complied with certain court-ordered terms.
Monday's hearing was the first of a series where 3rd District Juvenile Judge Elizabeth Lindsley will review Mattingly's progress. Mattingly said Monday that she cannot change the past, but she has changed her behavior and is ready to again be a full-time mother.
"I have stated several times (that) I believe there are a lot of things I could have done differently," Mattingly said. "There are a lot of things I plan on doing different."
However, the state says nothing has changed.
Nichols argued Mattingly has not followed a court-ordered reunification plan by refusing to acknowledge she was a victim of domestic abuse or that she abused her children.
"Based upon Heidi's testimony today, the services that the court ordered put in place and the services provided to her didn't work, and she has not recognized any of her problems," Nichols told the Deseret Morning News.
In an affidavit filed with the court and referred to in Monday's hearing by Nichols, John Daniel Kingston and Mattingly's 17-year-old daughter claim Arlen Kingston sexually abused her. In previous court testimony, the girl's younger sister said the 17-year-old was worried about an arranged marriage to Arlen Kingston.
Valdez ordered Arlen Kingston to have no contact with the now-17-year-old girl in April 2004. However, Nichols said the man was at the April funeral of the girl's grandfather.
The 17-year-old first disclosed the alleged sexual abuse to the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV in June.
"As a young girl in a polygamous society, I was subjected to neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse," she had said. "The state has entered my life a few times, and each time that we were taken, my family was able to manipulate the situation and get us home."
The Deseret Morning News has a policy of not identifying victims of sexual abuse.
When asked if Heidi Mattingly believes Arlen Kingston poses a risk to her daughter, Mattingly quickly replied, "No."
The Utah Attorney General's Office did not respond to requests for comment on the sexual-abuse criminal investigation.
Another man will be in court again next week to face charges that he allegedly sexually abused Mattingly and John Daniel Kingston's 14-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors charged Jesse Ray Taylor, 20, with one count of sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony; one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony; and two counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.
Charging documents state the alleged abuse happened on three separate occasions during about a one-week period in May, while the girl was living in foster care. The girl was 13 years old when the abuse occurred. Charging documents don't say how the man met the girl, but they do say they met in March and the abuse took place in a car and in a Salt Lake County home.
Last week, the state filed a petition to terminate Kingston and Mattingly's parental rights.
The lengthy child abuse case began in February 2004 when two of Kingston's teenage daughters pierced their ears without their father's permission. That incident led to an investigation of abuse in the home.
Three children are living with Mattingly, but the two teenage daughters have told the court they do not wish to return home. Six other children remain in state custody.
"It's time for these poor children to go home; it is time for this abuse and suffering to come to an end," said John Daniel Kingston, who claims he has lost about 25 pounds during the grueling court case. "It's been stressful, but my main concern is for the safety of the children."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com