Polygamous Sect Leader Faces State Sentencing for Child Abuse Convictions
Samuel Bateman, a polygamous sect leader, faces sentencing for child abuse after girls were found in an unventilated trailer in Arizona.
A polygamous sect leader already serving a lengthy federal prison term is set to be sentenced on Tuesday for separate state convictions related to the discovery of three young girls in an unventilated trailer in northern Arizona.
Samuel Bateman, 50, was found guilty of three counts of child abuse stemming from an August 2022 traffic stop in Flagstaff. Authorities discovered three girls, aged 11 to 14, inside the trailer, which was equipped with only a makeshift toilet, sofa, and camping chairs. The trailer lacked air conditioning and seat belts. The incident came to light after a witness reported seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer's doors.
Each of the three counts carries a mandatory sentence of four to eight years. The presiding judge will have the discretion to decide whether these sentences run concurrently or consecutively.
Bateman, who led a small offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is currently serving a 50-year federal sentence for coercing girls as young as nine into sex acts and for plotting to kidnap girls from protective custody. He previously claimed to have more than 20 "spiritual wives," including ten girls under the age of 18.
During the state trial, Bateman, who represented himself, acknowledged knowing the girls were in the hot trailer for hours with poor ventilation but downplayed the conditions. He claimed he was "shocked as could possibly be" to learn the girls were still inside when he was pulled over, believing they had exited earlier.
Federal authorities noted that Bateman traveled extensively across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska while building his network. He was a trusted follower of Warren Jeffs, the former sect leader now serving a life sentence in Texas. The sect's influence in its historic base of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, has waned significantly, with the towns released from court-ordered supervision last summer. Bateman's story was the subject of the Netflix series "Trust Me: The False Prophet."