Polygamous Leader Pleads Guilty To Conspiring To Transport Underage Girls

A leader of the polygamous group near the Arizona-Utah border has plead guilty to conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines in what authorities believe was a long going effort to arrange sexual acts involving children.

On Monday, Samuel Bateman, 48, stood before the U.S. District Court in Phoenix and also plead guilty to conspiring to commit kidnapping in an effort to reclaim underage girls who had been taken into Arizona state custody. In accordance with his plea agreement, he is facing a sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison. Just one of his convictions carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.

Bateman admitted to arranging underage brides, having sexual activity with them and organizing group sex, sometimes involving the young girls.

Bateman, who is a self-proclaimed prophet of an offshoot religion of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has more than 20 wives, which include 10 girls under the age of 18. He orchestrated an expansive arrangement that covered at least four states as he attempted to grow his followers outside of the communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

Bateman and his devotees practice polygamy, which was part of the initial teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The religious group has since abandoned the practice and now prohibits it. Devout followers believe polygamy brings exaltation into heaven.

In August of 2022, Bateman was arrested by Arizona state police outside of Flagstaff after someone reportedly saw spotted small fingers reaching out of a door gap of an enclosed trailer. After being pulled over, authorities found three young girls, between the ages of 11 and 14, in the trailer with no ventilation, with a makeshift toilet, camping chairs and a sofa.

Bateman was arrested again the following month after posting bond, on charges of obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for sexual activity.

State authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City and placed them all in foster care for protection. Soon after, the FBI reported that three of Bateman’s adult wives aided in helping eight of those children escape. The wives facilitated a plan to remove those children from the state of Arizona. Authorities found the girls hundreds of miles away in Washington state. The girls were driven by one of the adult wives.

In other disturbing accounts of the case, Bateman is also accused of giving young wives as gifts to his male followers. He claims he was instructed to do so by orders from the “Heavenly Father.”

Court reports state that Bateman traveled significantly between Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Nebraska and had sex with minor girls often. Bateman recorded some of the sexual activity and transmitted across state lines through electronic devices.

Last month, Moroni Johnson of Colorado City plead guilty to a charge of conspiring with Bateman to transport underage girls over state lines.

The round up does not stop there. Four of Bateman’s wives have plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit tampering with an official proceeding. The wives acknowledged to authorities that they witnessed Bateman participate in sexual acts with the selected child brides. They also participated in the plot to kidnap the eight girls from state custody, allegedly at his orders.

Reports detail how much power Bateman had over his followers. It has been reported that many times he ordered his followers confess publicly for their personal indiscretions and forced them to share those confessions. The punishments that Bateman would then hand down would be anything from a time-out, public humiliation to forced sexual activity. Bateman claimed the punishments came from the Lord. It has been reported that Bateman ordered some of his male devotees to engage in sex with some of Bateman’s wives to atone for the men’s alleged sins against the leader.

One of the religion’s followers reported that Bateman forced him to give up three of his own wives as atonement because Bateman felt he wasn’t respecting him as a prophet.

Official sentencing for Bateman has been scheduled for July 15.