True Crime Arizona
Briana Whitney
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Fall of the new FLDS prophet
In the wake of infamous FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs locked up in prison, a new leader emerged: Samuel Bateman. Bateman started his own offshoot of the polygamous religion, taking in multiple wives and child brides as young as 9 years old. An FLDS survivor and advocates tried to sound the alarm to the FBI for years, but it wouldn’t be until a bizarre traffic stop in Flagstaff that Bateman would be caught. From there this story exploded: sex trafficking schemes, naked “sacred ordinances,” kidnapping, and an FBI raid. After years and multiple plea deals, Samuel Bateman learned his prison fate in a Phoenix federal courtroom in December 2024. And for the first time, the once child victims spoke directly to him before the judge had the last word.
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