Polygamous sect leader Samuel Bateman convicted on Arizona child abuse charges after girls found in unventilated trailer
A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence has been convicted on additional state child abuse charges after authorities discovered three girls inside an unventilated trailer he was transporting through Arizona.
The case stems from an August 2022 incident near Flagstaff, when a witness reported seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in a trailer door. Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle and found girls ages 11 to 14 inside a confined space equipped only with a makeshift toilet, sofa, and camping chairs.
Bateman was previously convicted in federal court for coercing children as young as 9 into sexual acts and for plotting kidnappings from protective custody. He has also been linked to an offshoot group of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamous sect with historic roots in communities along the Arizona–Utah border.
During the state trial, Bateman testified in his own defense, telling jurors he would never harm the people he loved. He acknowledged the girls were in the trailer for hours in hot, poorly ventilated conditions, but said he believed they had exited the vehicle during stops.
“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said. “I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle.”
He told jurors he was “shocked as could possibly be” when he learned the girls were still inside when he was pulled over.
Prosecutors argued the conditions were plainly dangerous, with one stating, “It’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation.”
Bateman was convicted on all three counts of child abuse after a brief jury deliberation lasting about 40 minutes. Each count carries a mandatory prison term of four to eight years, with a judge set to decide whether the sentences run consecutively or concurrently at an August 25 hearing.
The judge had barred mention of Bateman’s federal conviction during the trial, though he raised it himself at points while representing himself, leading the court to strike those comments.
Authorities describe Bateman as a self-proclaimed prophet who traveled across multiple western states while building an offshoot network tied to the broader FLDS movement, historically centered in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.
He was once a follower of Warren Jeffs, the sect’s former leader, who is serving a life sentence for child sexual assault. While the group’s influence has declined over time, with court oversight of the region lifted in recent years, only a small number of adherents are believed to remain in the area.
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