A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence in the US has been convicted of state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.
A member of the public contacted authorities after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer’s doors in 2022.
Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls, aged 11 to 14 at the time, inside.
The trailer was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.
In the federal case, Bateman was convicted of coercing girls as young as nine to submit to sex acts with him and other young adults, and of scheming to kidnap girls from protective custody.
His crimes are the focus of a Netflix series, Trust Me: The False Prophet.
Bateman previously claimed to have more than 20 “spiritual wives”, including 10 girls under the age of 18.
He testified in his own defence, telling jurors he would never harm the people he loves.
He acknowledged during cross-examination that he knew the girls were in a hot trailer for hours and the ventilation wasn’t good.
“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said. “I ask God to bless me every time we hop in that vehicle.”
Samuel Bateman led an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based in the neighbouring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. (AP: Rick Bowmer)
During closing arguments, prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors, “it’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation”.
Jurors in the state case weren’t supposed to hear about Bateman’s conviction in federal court after the judge barred the evidence from being introduced.
But Bateman brought it up several times as he represented himself, leading the judge to strike the comments from the record.
The jury delivered its verdict on Friday, local time, convicting him on all three counts of child abuse.
Each count carries a mandatory sentence of between four and eight years. The judge has discretion to run the counts consecutively or concurrently.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled August 25.
Federal prosecutors said Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet, travelled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska as he built an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He and his followers practised polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
Bateman was one of the trusted followers of Warren Jeffs, who previously led the sect and is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexual assault of children.
AP
