Polygamous leader had child brides, called himself ‘prophet’

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The leader of a small polygamous group on the Arizona-Utah border had taken at least 20 wives, most of them minors, and punished followers who did not treat him as a prophet, newly filed federal court documents show.

The filing provides insight into what investigators have found in a case that first became public in August. It came as federal authorities charged three of the self-declared prophet’s wives with kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution after eight girls associated with the group fled from state foster care.

Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow appeared in federal magistrate court in Flagstaff on Wednesday. They remain jailed and have court hearings scheduled next week. Moretta Rose Johnson is awaiting extradition from Washington state.

The FBI affidavit filed in the women’s case centers on Samuel Bateman, who proclaimed himself a prophet in 2019. Authorities wrote that Bateman orchestrated sexual acts involving minors and gave wives as gifts to his male followers, claiming to do so on orders from the “Heavenly Father.” The men supported Bateman financially and gave him their own wives and young daughters as wives.

Bateman, 46, has pleaded not guilty to state child abuse charges and federal charges of tampering with evidence. A trial on the federal charges is scheduled for January. He remains imprisoned in Arizona.

Bateman was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, until he left in recent years and started his own small offshoot group, said Sam Brower, who has spent years investigating the group. Bateman was once among the trusted followers of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, but Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written revelation sent to his followers from prison, Brower said.

Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for child sex abuse related to underage marriages.

The FLDS is itself a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, but it abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.

Federal officials contend Bateman engaged in horrific acts with children and called upon his followers to help cover his tracks. He demanded that his followers confess publicly for any indiscretions, and shared those confessions widely, according to the FBI affidavit.