The self-proclaimed prophet of a polygamous sect was sentenced to 50 years in prison Tuesday. He initially faced dozens of charges related to what prosecutors described as a "yearslong" conspiracy to amass underage wives but ultimately took a plea deal.
As part of that deal, Samuel Bateman admitted to taking more than 20 so-called spiritual “wives,” including 10 underage girls, and forcing them to have sex with him and other adult followers.
Court documents detail how Bateman schemed for years to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes. After his arrest, he instructed his followers from jail to kidnap several of them from protective custody.
During Tuesday's sentencing, a judge told Bateman that the harm he caused was, quote, "nothing short of immeasurable."
The plea agreement is contingent on Bateman's co-defendants' pleading guilty. Two other men facing similar charges are scheduled for sentencing later this month.
For 48-year-old Bateman, the 50-year prison sentence likely amounts to a life sentence.
Bateman was the head of an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a disavowed polygamous sect split from the mainstream Mormon church. The FLDS are primarily based in the border communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah and were once led by convicted cult leader Warren Jeffs.
