The FBI says that a polygamist cult leader in Arizona, who is 46 years old, had 20 wives, some of whom were as young as 9 years old, and that he may have married his daughter.
FBI Says A Guy With 20 Wives, Some As Young As 9, May Have Married His Own Daughter. The wives were allegedly taken across state lines in a trailer and forced to use a bucket as a toilet, while the self-proclaimed prophet drove two Bentleys and pushed failed businesses in real estate and goal coaching.
Samuel Rappylee Bateman and his accomplices and helpers are accused of transporting minors in interstate commerce to engage in illegal sexual activity and of traveling between Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Nebraska between May 2020 and November 2021 to engage in illegal sexual activity with minors. A federal grand jury first put charges against him on September 6.
Federal prosecutors say that the investigation showed that on August 28, 2022, Bateman and others who helped him did an act of obstruction of justice by destroying records of their illegal actions. Bateman calls himself a prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a group whose members practice polygamy and is part of the group of fundamentalist Mormon groups.
According to a new FBI affidavit in a criminal complaint against three newly charged co-conspirators, it was found that Bateman “has about 50 followers and over 20 wives, many of whom are minors, most of whom are under the age of 15.” “Bateman is said to have ‘impressions of Heavenly Father’s will that tell him to tell his followers, even the young ones, to do sexual acts, and he uses their obedience to do his own will.
FBI Agent Dawn A. Martin filed the probable-cause affidavit in federal court on Friday. Some of Bateman’s wives were the daughters or wives of the men who followed Bateman. Bateman is also said to have tried to marry off his daughter. The affidavit says that Martin talked to a couple who knew Bateman and were making a documentary about the town.
According to the affidavit, Bateman drove to the couple’s home in Colorado City, Arizona, in November or December 2020 in a large SUV full of women and girls. Bateman told everyone that they were all his wives. The youngest girl was born in 2011, making her the oldest at 9 years old.
In the affidavit, Bateman and everyone else on the call are said to have been naked and done s*x acts together during video calls. In a ritual called “Binding of Brothers,” Bateman allegedly had s*x with the wives of his male followers while other men and girls under the age of 18 watched.
Bateman had been going to MasterMind conferences in Cancun, Mexico. He has tried and failed to start businesses in real estate and goal coaching. Bateman drove two Bentleys, according to the affidavit. His underage wives, on the other hand, were reportedly moved into a trailer with a bucket and a trash bag for a toilet.
According to audio and video recordings in the affidavit, on November 1, 2021, Bateman said that the “Heavenly Father” told him to “give the most precious thing he has, his girls’ virtue, to three of his male followers in a group sex act.” This is what he said the “Heavenly Father” told him to do. One of the girls was only 12 at the time.
“On the recording, the girls were crying and said that they hurt, but there was no darkness. Bateman said that the girls had given up their good behavior for the Lord “it says in the affidavit. “Bateman said, “God will fix their bodies and put the membrane back in their bodies. I’ve never been more sure that I should do what he wants. It’s all because of love.’ In the end, the girls said, “It’s an honor to hurt someone else so they can rise.”
In 2019, Bateman started saying he was a prophet, which he got from Warren Jeffs, who Bateman and his followers call “Uncle Warren.” Jeffs was the leader of the FLDS church before he died. He was said to have had up to 78 wives, some of whom were children.
In 2006, Jeffs was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List because he was on the run from charges that he set up illegal marriages between his adult male followers and underage girls in Utah. Jeffs was charged with multiple crimes involving the sexual assault of minors in three states. He is currently serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting some of his underage wives.
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