A polygamous sect leader, Samuel Bateman, was convicted of child abuse charges after three girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona. The girls, ages 11 to 14, were discovered in 2022 when someone alerted authorities about the trailer. Bateman, who is already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children, claimed to have more than 20 ‘spiritual wives,’ including 10 girls under the age of 18.
Background
Bateman was a self-proclaimed prophet who traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska, building an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his followers practiced 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 was convicted of coercing girls as young as 9 to submit to sex acts with him and other young adults, and for scheming to kidnap girls from protective custody. He acknowledged during cross-examination that he knew the girls were in a hot trailer for hours and the ventilation wasn’t good.
Conviction and Sentencing
The jury delivered the verdict in about 40 minutes, convicting Bateman on all three counts of child abuse. Each count carries a mandatory sentence, between four and eight years. The judge has discretion to run the counts consecutively or concurrently. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 25.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
