One of polygamist John Daniel Kingston's daughters has filed a $12 million sexual abuse lawsuit against three relatives who left the group.
But anti-polygamy activists and lawyers for the accused question if it's revenge for speaking out against the Kingstons.
Krista Nelson filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court against Mary Ann Nichols, Arthur Kingston and LuAnn Cooper. She says Arthur Kingston sexually assaulted her, with Nichols acting as a lookout. The lawsuit also says Nichols sexually abused Nelson.
Cooper was aware of the sexual abuses, according to the lawsuit, yet did nothing about it. She declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday.
The lawsuit says the sexual abuses were finally stopped when Nelson told her parents.
Nelson's lawyer, F. Mark Hansen, declined to comment beyond the lawsuit Thursday. Asked if the allegations were ever reported to police, Hansen would not say.
"The criminal procedures and civil procedures have different remedies," he told the Deseret Morning News. "The client wants the remedies available in civil proceedings."
The lawsuit has been filed before as a countersuit to Mary Ann Nichols' multimillion-dollar lawsuit against her family. It was dismissed on a technicality. Nichols' lawyer John D. Morris said he expected the lawsuit to be refiled.
"It's just another attempt by the Kingston organization to lash out at Mary Ann because she stood up to them," Morris said.
Nichols — who is another daughter of John Daniel Kingston — was known as Mary Ann Kingston. She is suing the Kingstons for more than $100 million, stemming from what she claims was a forced marriage to her uncle, David Ortell Kingston. When she fled the marriage, her father beat her. John Daniel Kingston pleaded no contest and served jail time. David Ortell Kingston was convicted of incest and served prison time. Nichols' lawsuit is still pending and may go to trial next year.
Cooper — formerly known as LuAnn Kingston — went to prosecutors after she left the group, turning in her husband, Jeremy Kingston. She said she married Kingston at age 15 and he was her cousin. Kingston pleaded guilty to incest and served jail time.
Rowenna Erickson, a former member of the Kingston group and a founder of Tapestry Against Polygamy, said the lawsuit may be trying to punish people who speak out.
"They can never be wrong," she said. "So they have to make anybody else wrong."
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com