Crime
Authorities say Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who had taken more than 20 wives, including 10 girls under the age of 18, created a sprawling network.
Samuel Bateman. Coconino County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File
PHOENIX (AP) — The leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines in what authorities say was a yearslong scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children.
Samuel Bateman also pleaded guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to conspiring to commit kidnapping in a plan to free underage girls who had been taken into Arizona state custody. His plea agreement recommends a sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison, though one of his convictions carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
In pleading guilty, Bateman, 48, acknowledged taking underage brides, having sex activity with them and arranging group sex, sometimes involving child brides. Myles Schneider, Bateman’s attorney, didn’t return a phone call and email seeking comment on his client’s behalf.
Authorities say Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who had taken more than 20 wives, including 10 girls under the age of 18, created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which historically has been based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.
He and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. Bateman and his followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
Bateman was arrested in August 2022 by Arizona state police in Flagstaff after someone spotted small fingers in a door gap on an enclosed trailer. Authorities found three girls — between the ages of 11 and 14 — in the trailer, which had a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs and no ventilation.
Bateman posted bond, but he was arrested again the next month and charged with obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for sexual activity.
At the time of the second arrest, authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City and placed them in foster care. Eight of the children later escaped, and the FBI alleged that three of Bateman’s adult wives played a part in getting them out of Arizona. The girls were later found hundreds of miles away in Washington state in a vehicle driven by one of the adult wives.
Bateman is accused of giving wives as gifts to his male followers and claiming to do so on orders from the “Heavenly Father.” Investigators say Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and had sex with minor girls on a regular basis. Some of the sexual activity involving Bateman was recorded and transmitted across state lines via electronic devices.