Girls found in trailer lead to sect leader's conviction

Samuel Bateman, a polygamous sect leader with a history of sex offenses, was convicted of state child abuse charges. This conviction occurred after authorities found three girls, aged 11 to 14, in an unventilated trailer Bateman was transporting in 2022. He was already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children.

Bateman, who claimed to have multiple spiritual wives including underage girls, represented himself in the state trial. During his defense, he acknowledged knowing the girls were in a hot trailer with poor ventilation for hours. He previously served as a follower of Warren Jeffs, a former sect leader serving a life sentence for sexual assault of children.

Federal authorities stated Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet, operated an offshoot network of a polygamous church across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska. His followers practiced polygamy, a doctrine abandoned by the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1890.