WEST JORDAN — A judge has set two full-day hearings for August to hear evidence regarding how much back child support polygamist John Daniel Kingston owes the state for a period of time when some of his children were in state custody.
Meanwhile, Heidi Mattingly, the children's mother, said Thursday the state Guardian ad Litem Kristin Brewer has appealed the custody portion case to the Utah State Court of Appeals in an effort to get the children removed from Mattingly's home again.
Other appeals on both sides for various legal issues also are pending.
Third District Judge Elizabeth Lindsley at a brief hearing Thursday scheduled evidentiary hearings for Aug. 16-17 so Kingston and state officials can put on their respective witnesses and exhibits regarding his back child support obligations.
Outside the courtroom, Mattingly said she and Kingston agreed he should pay her $701 a month in child support for their children, but she said she is not getting any of this. Instead, she said Kingston's wages are being garnished by the state for $561 a month to repay the Office of Recovery Services, leaving nothing for their children.
Sandra Langley, with the Utah Attorney General's Office representing the ORS, said the state is seeking a full accounting of Kingston's finances to determine how much he should pay. "We're asking Mr. Kingston to make full disclosure of all his assets," she said, adding that not all financial records have been made available.
Mattingly, gesturing to a thick file of documents she said had been given to state officials, said Kingston has supplied more financial information than the law calls for, including back tax records, credit card reports, bank statements and more.
The sum Kingston owes for back child support varies depending on whose numbers are used.
All but one of the 11 children Mattingly and Kingston have had together were, at one time or another, in various state-supervised living placements since February 2004, when two older girls were removed from Mattingly's home.
In October 2004, eight other children were removed and placed in various living arrangements, primarily foster care, after a judge determined that Kingston abused the children and that Mattingly failed to protect them, and then later found Mattingly also abused them. An infant girl has remained with Mattingly throughout.
Mattingly and Kingston relinquished parental rights to the two older girls in October 2005 after the girls asked to be placed for adoption, and a judge returned custody of the remaining children to Mattingly in August 2005, after she had complied with all court-order therapy.
Kingston had been ordered by the court to stay away from Mattingly and the children. The order regarding Mattingly was lifted in December 2005, and Kingston was permitted unlimited visits with the children in March.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com