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Samuel Bateman, a 50-year-old polygamous sect leader currently serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for sexual abuse of children, will be sentenced Tuesday in Arizona state court on separate child abuse convictions. The sentencing stems from an August 2022 traffic stop in Flagstaff in which authorities discovered three girls between ages 11 and 14 confined in an unventilated trailer lacking basic amenities.
Bateman was convicted of three child abuse counts related to the incident. The makeshift enclosure contained only a sofa, camping chairs, and a rudimentary toilet while lacking air conditioning and seat belts. A tipster alerted authorities after witnessing small fingers protruding through gaps in the trailer doors.
Each conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence ranging from four to eight years, with a judge able to determine whether sentences run consecutively or concurrently. During the trial, Bateman claimed he believed the girls had exited the trailer during a stop and expressed shock upon learning they remained inside when police pulled him over.
Bateman leads an offshoot group derived from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the polygamous sect formerly commanded by Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault. Federal authorities say Bateman previously claimed more than 20 “spiritual wives,” including 10 girls under 18.
The federal conviction included charges related to coercing girls as young as 9 into sexual acts and orchestrating kidnapping schemes to remove girls from protective custody. Bateman traveled extensively through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska while establishing his sect network.
The influence of polygamous sects in historically affiliated communities has diminished substantially. Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah—towns historically dominated by sect membership—were released from court-ordered supervision last summer, nearly two years ahead of schedule, following a 2017 court order that removed church control from municipal government and law enforcement.
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