An former member of a Mormon cult detailed his experience being raised in a sect with more than 150 siblings and multiple mothers.
Val Snow was a child member of the strict Kingston Group, officially known as the Davis County Cooperative Society and internally referred to as The Order, in Utah, according to Daily Mail. The group was founded in the early 20th century after splitting with the mainstream Mormon church over its rejection of polygamy.
Living among 163 siblings and 14 mothers, Snow allegedly suffered abuse from John Daniel Kingston, his father and group’s leader.
“Personally, I didn’t really see him very often,” Snow told hosts of the Cults to Consciousness podcast. “He would come by twice a month unless he was mad at my mom, then he would come by once a month.”
A man who grew up in a polyamorous, incestuous Mormon cult has opened up about the horrors he was subjected to.
Val Snow has 162 siblings and got his first job at 8 years old in a store owned by the cult, where he was paid 10 cents an hour. https://t.co/3KP4WCZ1uS
— Metro (@MetroUK) October 16, 2023
Snow was unaware Kingston was his biological father until one of his sisters made the discovery, according to the outlet. He said his father was not often a presence, emphasizing he would only appear when Snow was “being punished or abused.”
“[Kingston’s] way of raising kids was to first establish fear, and then with fear comes respect, and with respect comes love, [that] is his philosophy,” Snow explained. “A lot of my experiences with my father [are] my mom rescuing me from him,” Snow said, per Daily Mail. (RELATED: College Admin Pleads With Student Body Not To Make Fun Of Mormons)
“I actually got pulled out of school at 14,” Snow said. “[The church] said that what God wanted me to do was to go get a full-time job and support the younger kids.”
Snow alleged Kingston sexually abused and beat him. In one incident, Snow alleged Kingston molested him when teaching him how to drive a truck. The ex-cultist also came out as gay to his father, who allegedly threatened to send him to conversion therapy, Daily Mail reported.
“Beyond the physical abuse there was sexual abuse from my father,” Snow alleged. “And the crazy part was I don’t know to this day that he was actually finding pleasure in the sexual side of it. He enjoys seeing someone in pain.”
A judge sentenced Kingston to prison in 1999 for forcing his 16-year-old daughter to marry his brother and beating her with a belt after she escaped the polygamist marriage, the outlet reported.