Transporting children for sex with other adults.In court records filed last winter, federal prosecutors hinted at some of the dreadful allegations that they presented in the new indictment. The ceremony would often be the first time the girls were told to have sex with him - something some of the girls admitted to fearing, according to the indictment.īy the time law enforcement caught up with him, he had claimed 10 women and 10 underage girls to be God-given wives. The “acts” alleged in court documents described times Bateman took young girls for himself by convincing them and their parents that God had commanded them to marry. Last week's indictment listed “overt acts” in a detailed timeline, starting in 2019 when Bateman declared himself a prophet and ending with his arrest by federal agents in the fall of 2022. Illinois child abuse report: Nearly 2,000 children abused by more than 450 Catholic leaders in Illinois Overt acts, sex and Bentleys
15, he appeared in federal court on new federal charges dealing with interfering with destruction of records. Why is the FBI involved?įederal agents grew suspicious that Bateman was deleting records off a cellphone app during and after his arrest and communicating with supporters in Colorado City while he was in jail. He was booked into a Coconino County jail on suspicion of child endangerment, but he returned home. They noticed a child's hand poking out of a trailer in tow and then arrested Bateman. 28, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers saw a GMC Denali pulled over on Interstate 40. He calls himself a prophet, according to Colorado City and Hilldale, Utah, residents. Beyond that, much is still not known about him. He is 47 and a leader of an FLDS sect in Colorado City, Arizona. The 11 co-defendants face an assortment of charges ranging from making child pornography to transporting kids for sex. They are all relatives, followers and others Bateman claimed as wives. Josephine Barlow Bistline, LaDell Bistline Jr., Brenda Barlow, Marona Johnson, Torrance Bistline, Leia Bistline, and Leilani Bistline were added to the indictment on May 18. Attorney's Office filed affidavits describing sexual coercion but had not filed charges against them. Originally, the four faced charges of kidnapping and destruction of evidence in a federal investigation. Indictment: Read the 56-page redacted second superseding indictmentīateman had been charged in December, along with Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow and Moretta Johnson, all of whom Bateman claimed to be his wives. The new indictment revealed stories of Bateman coercing little girls to have sex with him and other adults, trading nights with girls for luxury Bentley cars, coercing children into participating in live-streamed group sex acts and transporting across state lines the girls for sexual trade. The new accusations rely, in part, on Bateman's own writings and remarks from some of the girls, according to documents filed in U.S.
The latest court filings, naming 11 defendants, show the scope of the case has widened and the allegations have grown more serious. Attorney's Office for Arizona now accuses Bateman, the self-proclaimed prophet of a splinter group of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and 10 others of causing sexual harm to nine girls whose ages ranged from 9 to 17 at the time the alleged offenses took place.įederal prosecutors filed the extensive indictment on May 18, replacing a more limited one against Bateman and three followers. PHOENIX - Lurid new details have emerged from a new 53-felony-count federal indictment against an Arizona-based polygamist fundamentalist cult and its leader, Samuel Bateman. Watch Video: Today in History for May 26th
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