A polygamist religious leader who claimed to have more than 20 spiritual “wives”, including girls as young as 10, was convicted of forcing and conspiring to force girls as young as 9 into criminal sexual acts with him and other adults. On Monday he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. To kidnap them from protective custody.
Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, pleaded guilty. Years old scheme to transport girls at the state level for his sexual crimes, and later for kidnapping some of them from protective custody.
Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport a minor for sexual activity, which carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, In which the punishment can be up to life imprisonment. , He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to be served concurrently.
the rest of charge Dismissed as part of settlement.
Authorities say Bateman, 48, tried to start a branch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Colorado City, Arizona and the neighboring communities of Hildale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as the FLDS, split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1890 after the Mormons officially abandoned polygamy.
Coconino County Sheriff's Office via AP
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Bateman after hearing statements in court from three teenage girls about the trauma they are still struggling to recover from. Although they provided their names in court, The Associated Press did not release the names of the sex crime victims, and some appeared to still be minors.
“You should never have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women,” Brnovich told Bateman, noting that the 50-year sentence was effectively a life sentence for the nearly 49-year-old. .
“You took them from their homes, from their families and turned them into sex slaves,” the judge said. “You took away from them their innocence and childhood.”
After the sentencing, the teens, who were accompanied by women who appeared to be foster parents, hugged and cried quietly. He was escorted out of the court by half a dozen men and women wearing jackets with the slogan “Bikers Against Child Abuse”.
Alleged practice of sexually exploiting girls by sect members whom they claim to be spiritual “wives” This has long troubled the FLDS. Jeffs was convicted in Texas in 2011 on state charges related to the sexual assault of his underage followers. Bateman was one of Jeffs' trusted followers and, like Jeffs, declared himself a “prophet” of the FLDS. Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written “revelation” sent from prison to his followers, and then attempted to start his own group.
In 2019 and 2020, while insisting that polygamy brings advancement to heaven and that he was acting on orders from “Heavenly Father”, Bateman began taking female adults and children from his male followers and sending them to his “Wives,” declared the plea agreement. Although none of these “marriages” were legally or formally recognized, Bateman acknowledged that each time he claimed another “wife”, it was because of his illicit sexual contact with the woman or girl. It was the beginning.
Federal agents said Bateman demanded that his followers confess publicly to any indiscretions and that he inflicted punishments ranging from public shaming to sexual activity, including forcing some male followers to surrender their wives and daughters to him. It also included the need to atone for one's “sins”.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona said Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska and regularly recruited underage girls into his criminal sexual activity. Recordings of some of his sexual crimes were broadcast across the state through electronic devices.
Bateman was arrested by state police in August 2022 as he was driving through Flagstaff while pulling a trailer. Someone had alerted the authorities after seeing small fingers reaching through the door latches. Inside the trailer, which had no ventilation, they found a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs, and three girls aged 11 to 14.
Bateman posted bond but was soon rearrested, charged with obstruction of justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for his sex crimes. Authorities also took nine children into protective custody from Bateman's home in Colorado City.
Eight children later ran away from foster care in Arizona, and were found hundreds of miles away in Washington state in a vehicle driven by one of the adult “wives.” Bateman also admitted his involvement in the kidnapping plot.
Federal prosecutors said Bateman's plea agreement was contingent on all of his co-defendants also pleading guilty. It also called for compensation of up to $1 million per victim and the immediate freezing of all assets.
Bateman's seven adult “wives” have been convicted of crimes related to forcing children into sexual activity or obstructing Bateman's investigation. Some admitted that he also forced the girls to become Bateman's spiritual “wives”, that they witnessed Bateman engage in criminal sexual activity with the girls, participate in illegal group sex with children, or abduct them from foster care. Involved in doing. Another woman is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 14 on kidnapping-related charges.
Two brothers from Colorado City also received 10 years in prison at their sentencing on Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, after pleading guilty in October to charges including interstate travel to persuade or coerce a child to engage in sexual activity. Will have to face. Authorities say one purchased two Bentley automobiles for Bateman, while the other purchased a Range Rover for him.
In court records, attorneys for some of Bateman's “wives” painted a bleak picture of their clients' religious upbringing.
One said her client grew up in a religious sect that teaches that sexual activity with children is acceptable and that she was tricked into “marrying” Bateman. Another said his client was treated by another person to Bateman as if he were a piece of property, made him feel he had no choice, and that Bateman induced him to do things he otherwise would not have done. Doesn't.