Kent Hovind biography: 13 things about Young Earth creationism advocate

Kent E. Hovind is a Christian fundamentalist evangelist and tax protester and advocate of Young Earth creationism. He is an independent fundamental Baptist.

As a child, Hovind was raised in a Mennonite church. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 1971, he graduated from East Peoria Community High School in East Peoria, Illinois and entered Illinois Central College. In 1972, he transferred to Midwestern Baptist College. In 1974, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in religious education.
2. In 1973, he and Jo Delia Hovind got married. There three children Eric Michael Hovind, Kent Andrew Hovind and Marlissa Dawn Hovind were born in 1977, in 1978 and in 1979, respectively.
3. Between 1975 and 1988, he served as an assistant pastor and teacher at three private Baptist schools.
4. In 1988, he earned his master’s degree in Christian education from Patriot University in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. In 1991, he earned his doctorate degree in Christian education from the same university.
5. In 1989, he, Jo and their three children moved to Pensacola, Florida, USA. In the same year, he established Creation Science Evangelism (CSE), which merged with the Faith Baptist Fellowship of Hawthorne, Florida from 1999 to 2002.
6. On March 1, 1996, he filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition to avoid paying federal income taxes, claiming he was not a U.S. citizen and he did not earn income, but it was dismissed on June 5, 1996. On July 7, 2006, the U.S. Tax Court found that he was deficient in paying his federal income taxes from 1995 to 1997 for a total of $520,099. By 2013, he owed $3.3 million for tax years 1998 to 2006 including penalties.  
7. In 2001, he started the Young Earth Creationist theme park Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola. In April 2018, he opened another location in Conecuh County, Alabama, USA.
8. On August 15, 2002, he was arrested and was charged with assault, battery and burglary in an incident with a CSE secretary but the charges were dropped in December 2002. On September 13, 2002, he was charged with failure to observe county zoning regulations for Dinosaur Adventure Land.
9. With the help of tax-avoidance scheme promotor Glenn Stoll, he set up series of entities starting with an unincorporated association of pure trust on May 13, 2003, under which a corporation sole and several ministerial trusts were established starting on May 23, 2003.
10. On June 5, 2006, he pleaded nolo contendere as charged to constructing a building without a permit, refusing to sign a citation and violating the county building code and paid fines totaling $675. On November 2, 2006, he was convicted of 45 counts of knowingly structuring transactions, 12 counts of willful failure to collect, account for and pay over federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the administration of the internal revenue laws. On January 19, 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
11. On October 21, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted him in Pensacola on two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy with Paul John Hansen to commit mail fraud and one count of criminal contempt for interfering with the sale of Pensacola properties he was forced to forfeit as a result of his case in 2006. On March 12, 2015, he was found guilty on one count of criminal contempt while Hansen was found guilty on two counts of criminal contempt but jury was hung on the remaining charges. In July 2015, he was released to home confinement.
12. On June 21, 2016, he and Jo divorced. On September 24, 2016, he married Mary Tocco, who left him in July 2017. In November 2017, he renounced his married to Tocco. In 2018, he married Tocco’s former friend Cindi Lincoln.
13. Lincoln accused him of bodyslamming her in 2020. On July 19, 2021, she filed an order of protection against him. On July 30, 2021, he was arrested and charged with third-degree domestic violence. He was released from the Conecuh County Jail after posting $1,000 bond.

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