Samuel Bateman, a polygamous religious leader with more than 20 claimed spiritual "wives," faces sentencing for criminal sex acts with children, including 10 underage girls. Bateman led an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and pleaded guilty to transporting girls across state lines for sex crimes, which could land him 20 to 50 years in prison, but his sentencings could result in life sentences for each conviction; his current competency to participate in his defense or the need for psychiatric treatment is being evaluated following a guilty plea on a years-long scheme, his attorney Brian Russo disclosed, as reported by ABC15.
In chilling detail, authorities documented how Bateman, 48, established a sect in Arizona and Utah that mimicked the FLDS, known for its historical sexual abuse allegations, he coerced his male followers to yield their wives and daughters to him for "atonement," established illicit sexual relationships with each new spiritual "wife," and punishments imposed ranged from public shaming to sex acts, according to the The Guardian. Bateman's group is among several that emerged following a split from the mainstream Mormon church after it abandoned polygamy in the 19th century, and he, like his predecessor Warren Jeffs, assumed the prophetic mantle and enforced practices reminiscent of the shadow-ridden history of the sect.
The extent of the abuse surfaced when Bateman was arrested in August 2022 in Flagstaff, Arizona, after being spotted driving a trailer containing young girls, without ventilation, and subsequent arrests uncovered that he obstructed a federal investigation into interstate child sex trafficking. He also admitted involvement in a kidnapping plot after eight of the children from foster care were found with one of the adult "wives" in Washington state. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona revealed that Bateman had routinely coerced underage girls and adult women alike into criminal sexual activity whilst shuttling between multiple states.
Sentencing for Bateman's adult "wives," convicted of abetting these abuses, sheds light on the eerie dynamics within the sect—some acknowledged they had coerced girls into becoming Bateman's spiritual "wives," had witnessed criminal sexual activity, participated in illicit group sex involving children, or had orchestrated the kidnapping of children from foster care, it's reported by ABC15; additionally, two brothers from Colorado City also await sentencing, after being convicted of enabling Bateman's travels and lavishing him with luxury vehicles. Lawyers defending some of Bateman's followers have described a disturbing case of religious indoctrination, where sexual exploitation was disguised as a sacred practice, making it harder to understand agency, complicity, and coercion in this isolated group.
