Woman raised in an incestuous polygamous cult lays bare the horrific abuse she faced – revealing how she was forced to marry her own COUSIN at 18
A woman who grew up in an incestuous polygamous cult has candidly exposed the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her own husband.
Shanell Snow Derieux appeared on a recent episode of the Cults for consciousness podcast together with host Shelise Ann Sola.
She revealed how she grew up in Utah as a member of The Order – a sect that decided to split from the original Mormon church when the mainstream religion stopped practicing polygamy.
Shanell said she was forced at age 18 to marry her own cousin, who was verbally, physically and sexually abusive before eventually breaking free.
Shanell Snow Derieux, who grew up in an incestuous polygamous cult, has candidly exposed the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her own husband.
Shanell said she was forced to marry her own cousin at age 18, who was verbally, physically and sexually abusive before finally breaking free
In the podcast, Shanell revealed that she could have as many as 200 siblings after losing count at 163.
The cult promotes incest in an attempt to keep the bloodlines ‘pure’ with the aim of having as many children as possible.
Shanell said they forced members to marry early to “lock you in as young as possible and make it harder for you in the future if you tried to leave.”
Her father John Daniel Kingston – known as Daniel – married fourteen women, four of whom are half-sisters, and others are cousins.
When asked why The Order remains incestuous even among the newest generations, Shanell said, “I honestly don’t know why they believe this, but they believe they are direct descendants of Jesus Christ and that’s why they want to keep the blood pure.” or clean.’
Elaborating on her own experiences with relationships in the cult, she explained, “They ingrained it in us so hardcore from when we were two or three years old.
“But I will say that they started pressuring me to start making my list or having an idea of certain (boys) who could be my marriage choices when I was 10 – maybe younger.
“I remember when I was 12 or 13 when we took one of our marriage preparation classes and I remember (Daniel) telling us all that some of his own children were going to marry each other.”
The Order’s “standards for young men and women” included that their first kiss will be on their wedding day and that they must have at least $20,000 saved by the time they tie the knot.
Shanell appeared on a recent episode of the Cults to Consciousness podcast alongside host Shelise Ann Sola (pictured)
She said she looked around the room at her half-brothers and thought, “Oh no, no, no, please, because he’s my brother and I really love him.”
Shanell revealed that “everyone just married cousins, so it was just super normal,” adding that the pressure to follow suit came not just from adults in the group, but also from peers, siblings and best friends.
She said Daniel offered to draw up a list of potential husbands for her, but she said, “I didn’t trust him. I had no reason to trust him.
“He told me I wasn’t a good kid. He had put me down and tried to make me feel worthless and make me feel like I needed his approval.”
The Order’s “standards for young men and women” included that their first kiss will be on their wedding day and that they must have at least $20,000 saved by the time they tie the knot.
But Shanell explained: “Please note that the savings, whether your name is on them or not, are owned by The Order.
“They’re the ones in control of it, they’re the ones who can touch it as and when they want. It is much more difficult to get your own money there.’
When her younger sisters got married before her at age 16, she said, “Daniel told me no one wants you. You’re a rebel, you’re bold, no one wants to marry you, no one wants you because of your attitude.”
She said her father, along with other adults, put “a lot of pressure” and she eventually agreed to marry her cousin at age 18.
‘I was so tired of the pressure. I was so tired of constantly hearing from my friends and adults that ‘Shanell, you should get married, you should find your first choice,'” Shanell recalled.
‘Ultimately at that moment I thought, “Well, if I say yes, people won’t bother me about it anymore,” and so I said yes.’
But their relationship didn’t go as planned, as she revealed: ‘Things came up during the engagement that were red flags and he told me that my dad told me (things) about your family.
‘He wasn’t abused until a few months later – I’d say it was three or four months.
‘The first time he forced himself on me and then I punched him – and he was really offended about that.
“He said, ‘You hit me,’ and I said, ‘Well, I said no and you pushed yourself on me.’
She said it got to the point where she “couldn’t keep him away anymore.”
‘He was verbally abusive… and when he was physically abusive the first time, he picked me up and threw me against the wall and into the doorway. At the end of the day he apologized,” Shanell said.
But she said the abuse continued, adding: ‘He was very careful not to hit me or hit me with his hand. He kicked me, he threw me around like a rag doll, but he made sure not to use his hand to hit me so he could say, “I never hit you.”
‘But of course there was the sexual abuse and a lot of the physical abuse was also about me saying no and him pushing.’
Shanell claimed her husband also strangled her until she fell unconscious.
She said: ‘I don’t think it lasted very long because when I came to I just saw him backing away and I immediately started crying. I’m confronted with the fact that this is my life.’
Her father, John Daniel Kingston (front and center), signed as best man at his teenage daughters’ weddings
Shanell said the group was deterred from calling the police and instead encouraged to handle matters “at home.”
But in the end she had no choice and her ex-husband ended up in prison for domestic violence.
Shanell claimed that ‘a lot of guys treat their women that way,’ adding that for the most part they get away with it.”
Ultimately, she decided to leave The Order, despite knowing she would be expelled and not see her family again.
She revealed that she had previously tried to kill herself to “end things” and didn’t want to go down that route again – so she knew she had to escape her environment for good.
But the transition was not easy.
Shanell said, “I tell people it’s like your whole world has been turned upside down.
“The people you grew up with that are no longer in your life, your best friends that are no longer in your life, the places you shopped, the places you worked, you are no longer welcome.
‘Virtually all social activities – dance parties, sports competitions or holiday celebrations – (you are) no longer welcome…
“It’s really hard to lose the people you’ve loved for so many years and who seem to love you, simply because you make the choice to leave the abuse behind you.”
Shanell, who has since remarried and has three daughters of her own, now wants to help others escape their situation through her TV show Escaping Polygamy.
Her brother Val and cousin Amanda Ray have also previously spoken about their own harrowing experiences with the cult.