When was fundamentalist LDS Church sect leader Samuel Bateman arrested?
Bateman, a former real estate agent and motivational speaker, declared himself a prophet and formed his own FLDS sect in 2019. According to federal prosecutors, he amassed 22 “wives” in just a few years, 10 of whom were underage when they became “brides.”
Bateman was arrested in August 2022 in Flagstaff, Arizona, nearly two years after he was first investigated about the alleged child bride, when a public safety officer pulled him over and discovered three girls, ages 11 to 14, inside an unventilated box trailer he was towing. State police said someone spotted a small finger sticking out of a gap in the trailer door, according to the Associated Press.
Bateman posted bail but was arrested again the following month and charged with destroying records to obstruct a federal investigation. At the time, nine children were removed from their homes in Colorado City, Arizona, and placed in state foster care facilities.
Prosecutors said Bateman then worked with his three wives to keep eight girls he thought were his wives off social services.
Two subsequent superseded indictments charged Bateman with additional charges, including kidnapping, conspiracy to transport a minor for the purpose of criminal sexual activity, production of child pornography, and witness tampering.
