Polygamous Sect Leader Is Convicted of Child Abuse Charges After Girls Found in Enclosed Trailer on an Arizona Highway
Jurors found Bateman guilty on all three child abuse counts after police discovered three girls, ages 11 to 14, in an unventilated trailer.
- On Friday, a jury convicted Samuel Bateman on three counts of child abuse in about 40 minutes after police discovered three girls, ages 11 to 14, inside an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.
- The discovery began in 2022 when someone alerted authorities after spotting small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer's doors in Flagstaff. Police found the girls in an enclosed space containing a makeshift toilet, sofa and camping chairs.
- Already serving a 50-year federal sentence for orchestrating sex involving children, Bateman was convicted of coercing girls as young as 9 and previously claimed to have more than 20 "spiritual wives," including 10 girls under age 18.
- Representing himself at trial, Bateman testified he would never harm those he loves, but acknowledged during cross-examination that the girls had been in the hot trailer for hours with poor ventilation. The judge struck his repeated attempts to reference his federal conviction.
- Bateman built an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska as a self-proclaimed prophet. His case is detailed in the Netflix series Trust Me: The False Prophet, which documents his schemes to kidnap girls from protective custody.
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Polygamous sect leader is convicted of child abuse charges after girls found in enclosed trailer on an Arizona highway
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Polygamous sect leader is convicted of child abuse charges after girls found in enclosed trailer on an Arizona highway.
Associated Press News
Polygamous sect leader convicted of abuse charges after girls found in trailer on Arizona highway
A polygamous sect leader has been convicted on child abuse charges in Arizona while already serving a 50-year sentence in federal prison for orchestrating sex involving children.
Polygamous Sect Leader Child Abuse Trial — Full Openings
Opening statements were presented on Wednesday in Samuel Bateman’s trial, where the self-proclaimed prophet is facing state child abuse charges in Arizona. Bateman, who was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to 50 years on federal charges involving the transportation of a minor for sexual activity, is representing himself. Bateman described himself as a “kind and loving father” who doesn’t “spank my children.” (6/24/26)
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