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Conviction in Arizona
Samuel Bateman, a polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children, was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after police found three girls inside an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.
“Polygamous sect leader convicted of abuse charges after girls found in trailer on Arizona highway PHOENIX (AP) — A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona”
The Associated Press said someone alerted authorities in August 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors, and police stopped Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff.
The BBC reported that police found three girls, aged 11 to 14 at the time, in the trailer, which was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.
In the federal case, 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, a story that is the focus of the Netflix series “Trust Me: The False Prophet.”
The jury delivered the verdict Friday in about 40 minutes, convicting him on all three counts of child abuse, with each count carrying a mandatory sentence between four and eight years.
What prosecutors said
During closing arguments, prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors, “It’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation.”
Bateman testified in his own defense in the state case, telling jurors he would never harm the people he loves, and he acknowledged during cross-examination that he knew the girls were in a hot trailer for hours and the ventilation wasn’t good.
The Associated Press said Bateman brought up his federal conviction several times as he represented himself, leading the judge to strike the comments from the record after the judge barred the evidence from being introduced.
The BBC also said the jury delivered the verdict Friday, convicting him on all three counts of child abuse, and that a sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 25.
The BBC further reported that the judge has discretion to run the counts consecutively or concurrently, while each count carries a mandatory sentence of between four and eight years.
Sentencing and wider context
A sentencing hearing is scheduled Aug. 25, and the judge will decide whether the three mandatory child-abuse sentences run consecutively or concurrently, with each count carrying a mandatory sentence between four and eight years.
“3 sectes "apocalyptiques" qui ont conduit leurs membres au suicide collectif La découverte au Kenya d'une fausse commune contenant plus de 80 corps d'adeptes d'une secte qui auraient été endoctrinés par leur chef pour mourir de faim et abandonner leur "vie terrestre", révèle le pouvoir des prédicateurs messianiques et l'ingéniosité de ceux qui les suivent”
The Associated Press reported that Bateman previously claimed to have more than 20 “spiritual wives,” including 10 girls under the age of 18, and that he testified he would never harm the people he loves.
The Associated Press also said federal authorities described Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet, as traveling extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska as he built an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The BBC said Bateman was one of the trusted followers of Warren Jeffs, who previously led the sect and is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexual assault of children.
The BBC added that the influence of the polygamous sect has waned over time in the towns where it has historically been based, noting that a court order placed the towns under supervision in 2017 and that they were released from court-ordered supervision last summer, almost two years earlier than expected.
