Title : Mother tells how she bravely ran away from incestuous polygamous cult at 17
link : Mother tells how she bravely ran away from incestuous polygamous cult at 17
Mother tells how she bravely ran away from incestuous polygamous cult at 17
EXCLUSIVE: Former cult member tells how she ran away from her father's incestuous polygamous sect at 17 to escape marrying her cousin and pumping out dozens of children to be with her true love
- Mary Jacobs, 23, escaped The Order, a highly-secretive polygamous cult on the very fringes of Mormonism in Utah, aged 17 on June 15, 2013
- 'My life was controlled by The Order,' Mary told DailyMail.com. 'They decide where you work, what you go to school for, they decide who you marry'
- Mary is the niece of leader Paul Kingston, who has 27 wives and more than 300 children, as her own father David Kingston has 18 wives and around 200 kids
- The teen, who lived near Salt Lake City, claims she was being forced to marry her first cousin, so she enlisted the help of boyfriend Bryan Nelson and his parents
- She ran through a park in the early morning and was whisked away by Bryan's father to a hideaway in Las Vegas until she turned 18 five months later
- On Mary's 18th birthday she married Bryan and now, nearly six years later, they are the parents of two adorable boys, living just a few miles from the cult
- Now Mary and Bryan, 32, are working to bring down The Order, with Mary being a witnesses in the $511M fraud case of some of her family members
Teenager Mary Jacobs was under orders to marry her cousin and live the rest of her life pumping out a dozen or more children in a polygamous secretive cult known as The Order.
Instead, she is now happy married to the love of her life and has two beautiful children.
Mary broke her silence to tell about her brave escape from a forced marriage in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
Mary knew she had one chance for escape. The then 17-year-old had to make an early morning bolt from the home where she lived with her mother and 15 siblings, and run a quarter of a mile across a public park, where her boyfriend and his parents would be waiting for her.
Anything could go wrong. She hadn't eaten or even drunk water for days as punishment, but the price of failure was too much to consider. If she didn't succeed, within days she would have to commit to marry her cousin as soon as she turned 18.
As she ran as hard as she could across Millrace Park in Taylorsville, a southern suburb of Salt Lake City, she stumbled and started to vomit. But there was nothing in her stomach to bring up. Somehow a burst of adrenaline kicked in and she pulled herself to her feet and ran on.
Mary had finally made it to the outside world, away from The Order, a highly-secretive polygamous cult on the very fringes of Mormonism. She knew her parents and their powerful relatives would soon be out searching for her, but at last she had hope.
Mary Jacobs escaped the Order, a highly-secretive polygamous cult on the very fringes of Mormonism in Utah, aged 17 on June 15, 2013, with the help of her now-husband Bryan Nelson (pictured together). Mary broke her silence to tell about her brave escape from a forced marriage in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com
To escape, Mary had to make a bolt from the home where she lived with her mother and 15 siblings, and run a quarter of a mile across a public park, where Bryan and his parents would be waiting for her. If she didn't succeed, within days she would have to commit to marry her first cousin David Kingston as soon as she turned 18. Pictured: Mary's graduation photo
For the next five months she would hide in a rented room in Las Vegas before finally she turned 18 and could be her own woman away from the people who had tried to control her every move from the day she was born.
She did marry on her 18th birthday, but it was to the man she loved, the man who had orchestrated her escape. Now, nearly six years later, they are the parents of two adorable boys, living just a few miles from the suffocating strictures of the cult.
Mary's story and the alleged criminal background surrounding hundreds of her relatives will be told on CBS's Whistleblower on Friday night, but DailyMail.com can tell the full story of how she escaped to marry her true love unlike so many girls in her family who have been forced into teen marriages to uncles, cousins or other relatives.
'My whole life was controlled by The Order,' Mary - now Mary Nelson, 23, - told DailyMail.com. 'They have their own elementary school, they have their own stores, they have their own bank. Everything is enclosed.
'They decide where you work, they decide what you go to school for, they decide who you marry. Everything is decided for you.'
'If I was still there I would be married and would have had several children. I would have been my cousin's second wife.'
Mary escaped on June 15, 2013. She and her husband Bryan Nelson, 32, are still working to bring down The Order. Two of her cousins are currently in jail awaiting trial in a $511 million fraud case. The FBI is actively working on other connected cases.
It all started early in 2013. Mary was taking business classes at Salt Lake Community College. Her future was already mapped out for her. She would work at The Order's internal bank.
'My whole life was controlled by The Order,' Mary told DailyMail.com. 'They have their own elementary school, they have their own stores, they have their own bank. Everything is enclosed. They decide where you work, they decide what you go to school for, they decide who you marry. Everything is decided for you.' Pictured: Mary in an old family photo
Mary is the niece of Paul Kingston, the head of The Order, a group that runs a church known as the Latter Day Church of Christ. Paul, a grandson of the group's founder, has 27 wives and more than 300 children, Mary said. Her own father David Kingston has 18 wives and around 200 kids. 'I am the daughter of his fifth wife,' she said. I am the fourth of her 16 children.' Pictured: Mary with her father in a collage of family photos
Mary's father David (left and right) spent four years in jail for marrying his 15-year-old niece. After that, The Order insisted that members had to wait till the girl was 18 before they were allowed to marry. Then the women often have a child a year for as long as they are physically able
WHAT IS THE ORDER?
The Order has its roots in the Great Depression of the 1920s when Mary Nelson's great-great-grandfather Charles Kingston broke with the Mormon Church over the question of polygamy.
Kingston claimed he was following the word of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, a firm believer in plural marriage.
His son Elden Kingston founded the Davis County Cooperative Society which over the years morphed into the Latter Day Church of Christ or LDCC, and The Order.
Elden was followed by his son John and John's son Paul Kingston, now 59, took over the reins in 1987.
Mary is the niece of Paul Kingston (pictured), the head of The Order, a group that runs a church known as the Latter Day Church of Christ
Beneath Paul are six of his brothers, including Mary's father David, who are the Pillars of the church. Below them are Numbered Men, who are each assigned a number in the order they will enter heaven.
Because the group's leaders often have dozens of wives who each had up to 20 children The Order has grown massively over 90 years. But men who are not so closely related to the leaders get the short end of the stick. Many never marry because there are simply not enough women to go round as the leaders have so many wives.
'The numbers just don't add up,' lawyer Mark Pugsley told DailyMail.com.
Unlike many other fundamentalist sects, members of The LDCC do not stand out. 'They hide in plain sight,' said Bryan Nelson.
They wear modern clothes, and use computers, cellphones and other modern conveniences. They attend college to get the education necessary to work in the 300 or so companies run by The Order.
'We weren't allowed to wear shoulderless dresses or skirts more than two inches above the knee, but that was about it,' Mary told DailyMail.com.
'If we went swimming it had to be a one-piece, never a bikini.'
But over the years, accusations of child marriage and abuse against leaders has been widespread. Mary's father was found to be married to a 15-year-old when she ran naked from a house to a public phone box and dialed 911. The girl's father beat her so severely for trying to escape that she passed out after counting 28 lashes.
Now The Order is facing its stiffest test with the trial of Jacob and Isaiah Kingston for defrauding the government.
Pugsley said many fundamental Mormons see nothing wrong with taking money any way they can from the government.
'Back in the early 1900s the government prosecuted polygamists so Mormon church leaders developed a philosophy of screw the government because it is persecuting us.
'That persists today, they have the ethos of 'bleed the beast.' When it comes to the government, they believe they are justified in taking its money.'
Bryan saw her sitting at a table studying at the college, and on a dare from a friend, went to talk to her.
'I thought she was absolutely beautiful,' Bryan, told DailyMail.com. 'We hit it off right away and that was the beginning of us dating.'
But he could tell there was something wrong, her stories of her home life didn't add up. 'She wasn't completely honest about everything. She made up a persona for herself,' he said.
They managed to go on dates, to the movies or restaurants. 'I had to be very, very secretive,' Mary said. 'I would tell my mom I had to go study at the college. It was because I was attending college that we got away with seeing each other.'
If they went for dinner it would be at restaurants that Mary knew members of The Order would never go. When Bryan dropped her off after a date it would have to be at the park never at her home.
'She would say: ''Don't worry I will tell you more about why I am doing this later on.'' I had no idea what The Order was,' Bryan said. ''I just thought she had really controlling parents or a very abusive father — which both ended up being true just not in the way I thought.''
Eventually Mary told him the truth. She was the niece of Paul Kingston, the head of The Order, a group that runs a church known as the Latter Day Church of Christ.
Paul, a grandson of the group's founder, has 27 wives and more than 300 children, Mary said. Her own father David Kingston has 18 wives and around 200 kids. 'I am the daughter of his fifth wife,' she said. I am the fourth of her 16 children.'
David spent four years in jail for marrying his 15-year-old niece. After that, The Order insisted that members had to wait till the girl was 18 before they were allowed to marry. Then the women often have a child a year for as long as they are physically able.
The Order, which was formed between the World Wars, has grown at an alarming rate. The Federal Government estimates there are now 7,000 members. Bryan believes that is a conservative figure and there are actually around 10,000.
'I would say that 80-85% of them are Kingstons,' said Mary, who went by the name Jacobs as that was a name her mother Katharine chose in an attempt to fool outsiders so they wouldn't know virtually the whole group is one big family.
She didn't even know David was her father till she was 13 and he suddenly announced she and her siblings should start calling him dad, not Uncle David.
No one in her family could know about her romance with Bryan. But inevitably the secret got out. She had managed to connect her iPod to cellular service and in May 2013 a younger brother saw her texting Bryan.
Mary said: 'He told my mom and she got my dad involved and that's when they found out about me dating someone on the outside.
'My dad put me on a three-day fast, no food or water, to charge my spiritual batteries, and get in line with what Heavenly Father wants. He told me my goal was to be engaged by the end of two weeks to David Kingston, my cousin.
'I had to sleep in my mom's bed and she held my hand at night so she would know I was there and I couldn't go anywhere without her.'
She even had to use a restroom with no door so she could be constantly watched.
At work she was assigned a computer with no Internet access. She wrote Bryan a letter, saying her goodbyes because she was having to marry someone else, and secretly transferred it to another computer and sent it. 'I had to be really quick on that,' she said.
That is when Bryan knew he had to help. He got a message to her that he would hide a phone under a car in Mary's driveway so they could stay in sporadic contact.
Mary has no contact with any member of her family. Some have tried to reach out to her to find out how they too could escape, but after brief conversations the lines of communication have gone cold
Pictured: Mary's mother's home in Taylorsville, a southern suburb of Salt Lake City, where she had to sneak out and escape from in 2013
Mary ran as hard as she could across Millrace Park in Taylorsville (pictured), but she stumbled and started to vomit. Somehow a burst of adrenaline kicked in and she pulled herself to her feet and ran on
'I knew the phone was going to be there in the morning, so I asked my mom if I could go use the restroom and instead of going to the one I was supposed to use, I went to one right by an outside door.
'I ran outside, got the phone, put it in my pocket and then went into the bathroom. While I was using the bathroom, my mom knocked on the door and asked 'What are you doing here, Mary? You are supposed to be using my bathroom.'
If her mother had found the phone, Mary would have been hauled before her Uncle Paul. 'I would have been in big trouble,' she revealed.
With the help of Bryan's parents, Dan and Mariana Nelson, they hatched the escape plan. Around 5 in the morning on the day before Father's Day, Mary would make her escape. If anything were to go wrong, both knew it was over.
Bryan rented two cars, so they could transfer her from one to the other, Once she had made it across Millrace Park, Bryan's father Dan sped her off to a safe house.
Within minutes of Dan returning home Mary's mother was at his door. 'My parents played it that they didn't know what she was talking about — didn't even know who Mary was,' said Bryan.
Dan then drove Mary the 400 miles to Vegas. 'We had rented a room in a house for cash, with a whole different name and persona so nobody would know who she was,' said Bryan.
With the help of Bryan's parents, Dan and Mariana Nelson, they hatched the escape plan. Around 5 in the morning on the day before Father's Day, Mary would make her escape. If anything were to go wrong, both knew it was over. Mary says she still loves her mother. 'I know she is brainwashed. She was born into the same situation that I was'
Now, nearly six years after Bryan helped Mary escape, they are the parents of two adorable boys, living just a few miles from the suffocating strictures of the cult
They chose Vegas because Nevada has lax rules about teenage runaways. If they had stayed in Utah, Mary's parents would have had a good chance of forcing her to return home.
If that had happened, Mary believes, she would have been placed in detention under the pretense that she had drug or alcohol problems.
She stayed in Vegas for five months until November 19, her 18th birthday. Then she finally returned to Utah for a courthouse marriage to the man who had got her out.
In court papers, Mary’s mother has previously said she worried about the nine-year age gap between Bryan and Mary and said her daughter had told her she started having sex with Bryan when she was 16.
Bryan insisted to DailyMail.com that they waited until they were married.
Katharine Jacobs also denied making Mary sleep in her bed or forcing her to use a toilet without a door. She also said there was no plan to compel her to marry her cousin.
Attempts to reach Katharine were unsuccessful. Kent Johnson, a spokesman for the LDCC did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
Now Mary has no contact with any member of her family. Some have tried to reach out to her to find out how they too could escape, but after brief conversations the lines of communication have gone cold.
She says she still loves her mother. 'I know she is brainwashed. She was born into the same situation that I was.
'But as for my dad, he knows exactly what he is doing and he knows it is not religious it is just a form of control. He is the reason I can't have anything to do with my family.'
HOW MARY JACOBS WILL BE THE STAR WITNESS IN '$511M' FRAUD TRIAL OF HER COUSINS
Four members of Mary's family are due to go on trial in July on charges of attempting to defraud the government of more than $1 billion by falsely claiming tax credits for their biofuel company.
Her cousins Jacob and Isaiah Kingston, their mother Rachel Kingston and Jacob's wife Sally are all charged in the federal case.
Jacob, 43, and Isaiah, 39, are being held separately — the older brother in Salt Lake County Jail and the younger in Weber County Jail in Ogden, Utah —in a bid to stop them collaborating. They each face up to 417 years or life in prison.
The case surrounds their company, Washakie Renewable Energy, which allegedly claimed it produced millions of gallons of biofuel over a six-year period when it actually produced a tiny fraction of that amount.
The government claims Washakie then forged paperwork saying it sold it on to other companies controlled by The Order and claimed $1-a-gallon government tax credit. Court papers say the company was paid $511 million in credits and another $500 million was pending but was stopped after the government discovered the alleged fraud.
Jacob and Isaiah are also charged with threatening witnesses and lying to government investigators.
Mary Jacob's cousins Jacob (left) and Isaiah Kingston (right) are due to go on trial in July on charges of attempting to defraud the government of more than $1 billion by falsely claiming tax credits for their biofuel company. They each face up to 417 years or life in prison
Jacob and Isiah used the money they made off their scheme to buy over $20M worth of property in Utah (Jacob's massive home in Sandy, Utah, where-he erected two additional dwellings after purchasing the property and expended the driveway)
The case was brought after Bryan and Mary Nelson told the FBI of the scheme following Mary's escape from the clutches of the cult. Their story will be told on Friday's episode of Whistleblower on CBS.
'A couple of months after we got married Mary told me all about The Order's financial system and I knew what she was telling me were crimes and I had to do something about it,' Bryan told DailyMail.com.
'Mary was the only person to escape who worked at the bank and saw how all the transactions were fraudulently processed and how they would change and alter invoices for tax returns.
'She has a photographic memory so she was able to remember all these different transactions and numbers.'
Jacob was first arrested back in August as he and Sally tried to board a plane to Turkey with their family, where the brothers had allegedly been promised safe harbor by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They claimed they were joining a son on his honeymoon, but prosecutors pointed out that was unlikely as they had only bought their plane tickets three days in advance.
Court document say that Jacob had funneled $135 million into that country, with some being put into an account in his name and the rest going to the government, which promised not to honor any request for extradition back to the United States.
'Mary will be the star witness at the trial, the Nelsons' lawyer Mark Pugsley told DailyMail.com
That is why both men have remained in jail without bail since August last year, with the judge in the case agreeing that with their money and ties to Erdoğan, the Kingston brothers are a flight risk.
Their mother, Rachel, 63, was indicted on five charges including conspiracy, money laundering and destroying records.
Sally, 41, faces one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one of money laundering.
The two women were allowed to return home after agreeing to surrender their passports.
'Mary will be the star witness at the trial, the Nelsons' lawyer Mark Pugsley told DailyMail.com.
Jacob and Isaiah are alleged to have spent more than $20 million on property in Utah — including a massive $4 million, six-bedroom home in Sandy which is now in foreclosure — as well as a $1.72 million Bugatti Veyron and other luxury cars.
Prosecutors are asking that all the property bought should be forfeited.
But while the men at the top of The Order lived lives of luxury, their dozens of wives and children were often left in poverty.
Mary told DailyMail.com her mother got her a newspaper route from the age of 6 to help out the family finances. She and her siblings even went 'dumpster diving' for stale pizza for dinner. But when her father visited, roughly twice a month, her mother made sure to give him feasts of king crab, his favorite delicacy.
Pugsley believes the couple qualifies under whistleblower statutes for rewards for turning in members of The Order. But as rewards are dependent on how much is recovered, and much of the money is now in Turkey, that reward may not be huge.
'It's not easy to get money out of Turkey,' he pointed out.
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