Samuel Bateman, who identified himself as a “prophet” leading a faction of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado City, a town straddling the Arizona-Utah border, received a 50-year prison sentence in December 2024 for a serious sexual crime involving a 9-year-old child.
Initially, Bateman faced federal charges alongside 11 of his adult followers, but his sentencing was revisited on Friday for a child abuse crime impacting three states.
Background
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fractured in the early 2010s following the sentencing of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who received a life sentence for raping two girls he regarded as “spiritual wives,” one of whom later had a child with him.
Bateman, claiming to be Jeffs’ successor, established an offshoot group in 2019, attracting followers across Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Utah. In May 2023, he filed a lawsuit asserting he was acting on the “impression of the will of our Heavenly Father,” stating he was fulfilling the desires of “Uncle Warren.”
The leader had sexual relations with multiple adult women in his group, resulting in several pregnancies, and he manipulated his followers into offering their children to him as “brides” for exploitation. He is known to have victimized at least 10 children.
The Ministry of Justice reported that Bateman’s cult included practices where leaders coerced victims, including adults and children, into participating in sexual activities.
On August 28, 2022, a trooper from the Arizona Department of Public Safety noticed a GMC Denali towing a wooden trailer. After someone reported seeing a child’s fingers moving from a gap in the trailer door, officers stopped the vehicle in a Flagstaff parking lot, discovering three children, aged 11 to 14, inside a dangerously hot trailer.
The trailer lacked ventilation, filled instead with buckets, trash bags, and camping chairs.
Following Bateman’s initial arrest, supporters managed to facilitate his return home, but he was re-arrested two weeks later.
Conviction and Sentencing
A few days after a new trial, Arizona jurors found Bateman guilty once again. During the proceedings, some jurors were reportedly led to believe he was “a kind and loving father” who would never intentionally harm anyone. This new case involved multiple child abuse incidents tied to the trailer situation.
Bateman admitted to knowing that three minors were confined in the trailer, among unsafe materials, without ventilation or seatbelts, allowing the girls to endure searing temperatures for hours, yet he minimized the gravity of the circumstances.
“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he claimed, adding that he asked for divine blessings every time he took the wheel.
He contended before the trial that there wasn’t enough probable cause to search the trailer, asserting the girls were free to leave at every stop. Yet, he expressed shock that they remained confined when police intervened.
Deputy County Attorney Eric Luchenski highlighted the clear dangers: “It’s common sense not to put people in a trailer designed for cargo with no ventilation on a hot day.”
Each child abuse charge carries a potential sentence of four to eight years, strengthening the likelihood that cult leaders like Bateman will face extended prison terms.
