A judge ordered reputed polygamist John Daniel Kingston to have no contact with 11 of his children from one of his wives, the latest development in a custody battle over alleged child abuse.
Kingston lost visitation rights in a ruling Monday from 3rd District Juvenile Court judge Andrew Valdez, who didn't make his reasoning public but previously has ruled Kingston abused the kids and that their mother failed to protect them.
Ten of the children he fathered with Heidi Mattingly have been in state custody since June; the judge left a toddler with the mother.
Kingston had been limited to having weekly supervised visits, and was scheduled to have another Monday night when the judge suspended them.
At a Nov. 10 hearing the judge said Kingston had only recently shown an interest in the 11 children. State officials say they are among at least 108 children Kingston fathered with 14 wives.
Kingston also was prohibited from having any contact with Mattingly, whose 4-month-old daughter remains in her custody.
The family landed in court after Kingston allegedly threatened two of his teenage daughters for piercing their ears. The girls, ages 13 and 16, told police they were afraid of their father, who threatened to rip out their earrings.
In an investigation, Kingston's 13-year-old daughter told police her father beat her, her mother and her siblings and forced the children to eat rotten food he dug out of the garbage.
Now prosecutors are pointing a finger at Mattingly. In a petition scheduled for a Dec. 15 trial, state guardian ad litem Kristen Brewer alleges Mattingly is "physically and emotionally abusive to the children on a day-to-day basis."
That allegation was made by a 13-year-old daughter, who told investigators Mattingly "hits the children in the face until they bleed, usually from the nose or mouth."
The Kingstons are members of the Latter-day Church of God, or "The Order," which reportedly has about 1,200 members and practices polygamy as part of its religious beliefs.
The group operates an estimated $150 million business empire in six Western states with companies that include pawn shops, restaurant-supply stores, dairies and mines.