The leader of a polygamous sect received 50 years in prison for plans to organize sex

PHOENIX (AP) — A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls, was sentenced to 50 years in prison Monday for forcing girls as young as 9 to engage in criminal sexual acts with him and other adults, and for plotting to kidnap them from custody.

Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect he once led Warren Jeffshad admitted his guilt to a years-long scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from custody.

Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the transportation of a minor for sexual acts, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison torture . He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for each of them simultaneously.

The remaining charges were dropped as part of the deal.

Authorities say Bateman, 48, tried to establish an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the nearby communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as the FLDS, split from the mainline Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially renounced polygamy in 1890.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Bateman after hearing statements from the three teenage girls in court about the trauma they are still trying to overcome. Although they were named in court, the Associated Press is not naming the victims of the sex crimes, and some were still 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 for a man his age, a 50-year term was effectively life.

“You took them from their homes, from their families and made them sex slaves,” the judge said. “You deprived them of their innocence and childhood.”

A brief competency hearing, which was closed to the public, was held shortly before sentencing to discuss a mental health doctor’s evaluation of Bateman. The defense argued that Bateman could receive a maximum of 20 years of psychiatric treatment behind bars before being released.

The girls told the court, at times referring to Bateman himself, how they struggled to develop a relationship in high school, among other challenges. They now live in foster homes and say they have received a lot of support from trusted adults outside their community.

After the verdict, the teenagers hugged each other and cried quietly. They were escorted out of court by half a dozen men and women wearing jackets emblazoned with the slogan Bikers Against Child Abuse, a group dedicated to protecting children from what they call dangerous people and situations. A woman who was sitting with the teenagers said that no one in the group would comment.

There was no one in the courtroom who appeared to be a Bateman supporter.

Alleged practice of sexual abuse by sect members against girls they call spiritual “wives” long suffering from the FLDS. In 2011, in the state of Texas, Jeffs was convicted on charges of sexual abuse of minor followers. Bateman was one of Jeffs’ trusted followers and declared himself, like Jeffs, a “prophet” of the FLDS. Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written “revelation” sent to his followers from prison, and then tried to start his own group.

In 2019 and 2020, insisting that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and that he was acting at the behest of “Heavenly Father”, Bateman began accepting adults and female children from her male followers and claiming them as her “wives,” the plea deal says. Although none of these “marriages” were legally or ceremonially recognized, Bateman admitted that each time he claimed another “wife” it marked the beginning of his illicit sexual contact with a woman or girl.

Federal agents said Bateman required his followers to publicly confess to any indiscretions, and he imposed punishments that ranged from public shaming to sexual activity, including requiring some male followers to atone for their “sins” by giving him their own wives and daughters.

Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and regularly coerced underage girls into his criminal sexual activities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said. Records of some of his sex crimes were transmitted across state lines via electronic devices.

Bateman was arrested in August 2022 by state police as he drove through Flagstaff, Arizona, pulling a trailer. Someone alerted authorities after noticing little fingers sticking through the door rails. A home-made toilet, sofa, camping chairs and three girls aged 11-14 were found in the trailer, which did not have ventilation.

Bateman posted bail but was soon arrested again, accused of obstruction of justice in a federal investigation into whether children were transported across state lines for his sex crimes. Authorities also took custody of nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City.

The eight children later ran away from foster care in Arizona and were found hundreds of miles away in Washington state in a car driven by one of the adult “wives.” Bateman also admitted his involvement in the kidnapping.

Federal prosecutors said Bateman’s plea deal was contingent on all of his co-defendants also pleading guilty. He also called for up to $1 million in restitution per victim and the immediate forfeiture of all assets.

Seven of Bateman’s adult “wives” were convicted crimes related to forcing children to have sex or obstructing the Bateman investigation. Some admitted that they also forced the girls to become Bateman’s spiritual “wives”, witnessed Bateman’s criminal sexual acts with the girls, participated in illegal group sex with the children, or joined in their abduction from foster care. Another woman is scheduled to go on trial on Jan. 14 on kidnapping charges.

Two brothers from Colorado City They also face 10 years to life in prison on Dec. 16 and 20 after pleading guilty in October to charges including traveling interstate to persuade or coerce a child to engage in sexual acts. Authorities say one bought Bateman two Bentleys and the other a Range Rover.

In court records, attorneys for some of Bateman’s “wives” painted a grim picture of their clients’ religious upbringing.

One said his client was raised in a religious cult that taught sex with children was acceptable and that she had been tricked into “marrying” Bateman. Another said her client was given to Bateman by another man, as if she were part of the property, feeling she had no choice.