Bateman Sentenced for Child Abuse | Mesa News

Mesa News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 26, 2026 · 2m

A fundamentalist religious leader, Samuel Bateman, just received a 24-year state sentence for child abuse — adding to his existing 50-year federal term — after authorities discovered three girls ages 11 to 14 trapped in a trailer he was hauling. Already convicted for trafficking and kidnapping minors, Bateman had been calling himself a prophet since 2019, marrying his own daughter and exploiting followers by taking their wives and daughters as his own. His sect, the FLDS, broke from mainstream Mormonism after polygamy was outlawed. The federal raid that led to his arrest uncovered nine girls…