Who is Samuel Bateman? Polygamous Sect Leader Who Has 20 Wives and Encourages His Congregation to Get Married with Children

WASHINGTON – Cult leader polygamy Samuel Bateman near the Arizona-Utah border, Samuel Bateman, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport underage girls. The act was carried out for years to regulate sexual crimes involving children.

Samuel Bateman also pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to conspiring to kidnap underage girls who had been detained in the state of Arizona. He faces 20 to 50 years in prison, although either sentence carries the possibility of life in prison.

When pleading guilty, Bateman, 48, admitted to taking underage brides, engaging in sexual activity with them and arranging group sex, sometimes involving child brides. Myles Schneider, Bateman’s attorney, did not return phone calls and emails seeking comment on his client’s behalf.

Authorities say Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who has taken more than 20 wives, including 10 daughters under the age of 18, created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he tried to start a branch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ . Latter-day Saints, historically based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

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 the practice. Bateman and his followers believe that polygamy brings glory in heaven.

Bateman was arrested in August 2022 by Arizona state police in Flagstaff after someone saw small fingers in the crack of the door of a closed trailer. Authorities found three girls – aged between 11 and 14 – inside the trailer, which had a makeshift toilet, a couch, camping chairs and no ventilation.

Bateman posted bail, but he was arrested again the following month and charged with obstruction of justice in a federal investigation into whether children were transported across state lines for sexual activity.

At the time of the second arrest, authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s Colorado City home and placed them in foster care. Eight of the children later ran away, and the FBI alleged that Bateman’s three adult wives played a role in getting them out of Arizona. The girls were later found hundreds of miles away in Washington state in a vehicle driven by one of the adult wives.

Bateman was accused of giving wives as gifts to his male followers and claimed he did so at the behest of his “Heavenly Father.” Investigators said Bateman frequently traveled between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and had sex with underage girls on a regular basis. Some of the sexual activity involving Bateman was recorded and distributed throughout the state via electronic devices.