Warren Jeffs and Samuel Bateman Convicted After Abuse Evidence Found in Texas and Arizona

A Netflix documentary, Keep Sweet : prie et tais-toi, revisits the FLDS and its leader Warren Jeffs, whose life and crimes are tied to a 2008 raid at the ranch Yearning for Zion in the west of Texas where law enforcement discovered evidence of abuse on more than 400 children.

“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”

Associated Press

Télé-Loisirs says that in April 2006 the state of Utah issued an arrest warrant for Warren Jeffs for complicity in rape of two girls aged 14 and 18, and that he was arrested during a traffic stop in Las Vegas in August of the same year.

Associated Press

The same account says that in August 2011 Jeffs was convicted on two counts of sexual assault on a child and sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for parole in 2038.

In a separate case covered by People, polygamous sect leader Samuel Bateman was convicted Friday, June 26, in Coconino County, Ariz., on three counts of child abuse after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.

Nasrin Begum’s testimony is not part of this crime set, but in the Bateman case, court reporting in People and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation includes Bateman’s own statements to jurors, including that he is a "kind and loving father" who doesn't "even spank my children."

People reports that Bateman told jurors, "I just trusted myself as a driver," and said, "I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle."

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

In closing arguments, prosecutor Eric Ruchensky said, "It's common sense that you don't carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation," as the jury deliberated for about 40 minutes before delivering its verdict.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation adds that Bateman acknowledged during cross-examination that he knew the girls were in a hot trailer for hours and that the ventilation wasn't good, while noting that a sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 25.

For Warren Jeffs, Télé-Loisirs says he is serving his life sentence in a prison in Texas and would be eligible for parole in 2038, when he would be 82 years old.

“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”

BBC

The same Télé-Loisirs account says that after his arrest in 2006, multiple accusations were brought against him, including complicity in rape, incest, and sexual misconduct involving minors, and that he was later recognized guilty of two counts of complicity in rape before both were annulled for lack of evidence.

In Bateman’s case, People reports that he is set to be sentenced on Aug. 25 and that the judge will decide whether his sentences for each count will run consecutively or concurrently.

People also states that each of the three counts of child abuse carries a mandatory sentence of four to eight years, and it ties Bateman’s broader network to Warren Jeffs by saying Bateman was one of the trusted followers of Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexual assault of children.