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Colorado City man charged after girls found in trailer

Three girls embrace before they are removed from the home of Samuel Bateman, following his arrest in Colorado City, Ariz., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. Seven were removed from the Bateman home, as well as two others from another house as part of the investigation.
Trent Nelson
/
The Salt Lake Tribune via AP
Three girls embrace before they are removed from the home of Samuel Bateman, following his arrest in Colorado City, Ariz., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. Seven were removed from the Bateman home, as well as two others from another house as part of the investigation.

A Colorado City man is facing federal charges that he tampered with evidence after he was arrested on a highway with young girls in an enclosed trailer.

Samuel Bateman was indicted this month on three counts of destroying records and tampering with criminal proceedings.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal magistrate court in Flagstaff. A judge ordered that he remain behind bars while the case continues.

A state police agency arrested Bateman in Flagstaff in late August after someone spotted small fingers through a gap in the trailer's rear door.

Bateman has pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges in that case.