Sect Leader Who Locked Girls in Cargo Trailer Faces New Conviction

Clear Facts

• Samuel Bateman, already serving 50 years federally for child sex abuse, was convicted Friday in Arizona on three counts of child abuse after girls were found locked in an unventilated cargo trailer
• Three girls, ages 11 to 14, were discovered in August 2022 inside a makeshift trailer with only a toilet, sofa, and camping chairs during a traffic stop in Flagstaff
• Bateman faces mandatory sentences of four to eight years per count, to be imposed on August 25, and claimed he “trusted God” to protect the children during transport

A Coconino County jury needed just 40 minutes Friday to convict Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed polygamous sect leader, on three counts of child abuse. The charges stem from a disturbing 2022 traffic stop where police found three young girls locked inside a cargo trailer in dangerous conditions.

The verdict adds to Bateman’s already lengthy 50-year federal prison sentence for child sex abuse crimes. He will face sentencing on the new state charges August 25, with each count carrying a mandatory four to eight years in prison.

The case originated in August 2022 when a witness in Flagstaff reported seeing children’s fingers protruding through gaps in the doors of a trailer Bateman was towing. When officers stopped the vehicle, they discovered three girls—then ages 11 to 14—trapped inside an unventilated cargo trailer equipped only with a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs.

Prosecutors argued that Bateman knowingly endangered the children by transporting them for hours in sweltering heat inside a trailer designed for cargo, not human passengers.

“It’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation,” prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors during closing arguments.

Bateman chose to represent himself at trial, though advisory counsel was available. Taking the stand in his own defense, he denied any intent to harm the girls but acknowledged under questioning that the trailer was hot and poorly ventilated.

“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said.

“I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle.”

He claimed to be “shocked as could possibly be” upon learning the girls remained inside when police pulled him over, insisting he believed they had exited during an earlier stop. The jury rejected his defense.

The Arizona conviction follows Bateman’s federal case, where prosecutors proved he used his claimed status as a prophet to coerce girls—some as young as 9—into sex acts with himself and others. Federal authorities also convicted him of plotting to remove girls from protective custody.

That broader case has drawn national attention and is featured in the Netflix series “Trust Me: The False Prophet.”

Bateman previously acknowledged having more than 20 “spiritual wives,” including multiple underage girls. Authorities identify him as the leader of a small religious offshoot connected to polygamous communities along the Arizona-Utah border.

Federal officials documented Bateman’s travels through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska as he built a following linked to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The FLDS church has historically operated in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

Bateman was once considered a trusted follower of Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS leader currently serving life in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting children.

The FLDS church practices polygamy, a doctrine rooted in early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mainstream LDS church officially abandoned polygamy in 1890 and now prohibits the practice entirely.

FLDS influence in Colorado City and Hildale has declined dramatically in recent years. A 2017 court order placed both communities under outside supervision after findings that church control had corrupted local government and law enforcement. The towns were released from oversight last year, ahead of schedule, following significant changes in governance and community structure.

Practicing FLDS members now represent only a small fraction of the population in those historically affiliated towns.

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