A prophet and leader of a polygamous sect has been convicted of state child abuse charges in Arizona, bringing an end to a trial that exposed the shocking conditions faced by three young girls found inside an unventilated trailer last year. The verdict was delivered on Friday after authorities discovered the girls, aged between 11 and 14, trapped inside the enclosed space during a highway stop in June 2022.
Police were alerted to the situation when a concerned member of the public spotted small fingers attempting to reach through gaps in the trailer's doors. Officers subsequently stopped Samuel Bateman's vehicle as he drove through Flagstaff, Arizona, where they found the girls inside an area designed for cargo. The cramped and poorly ventilated space contained a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs.
Bateman, 47, took to the stand in his own defence, claiming that he would never harm those he loved. However, under cross-examination, he admitted knowledge of the girls' prolonged confinement in the hot trailer with inadequate ventilation. He claimed he believed they had exited during a stop and expressed shock at their continued presence when confronted by police.
The jury delivered their verdict within 40 minutes, finding Bateman guilty on all three counts of child abuse after being explicitly instructed not to consider his prior federal conviction for orchestrating child sexual abuse.
Bateman's sect has been characterised as an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), a group based in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. Historically linked to practising polygamy, Bateman had previously followed Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault.
The influence of the FLDS sect has significantly diminished over the years, with court supervision lifted earlier than anticipated last summer due to rapid community transformation. Practising sect members now represent only a small fraction of the local populations.