Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints polygamous sect leader Samuel Bateman was convicted on child abuse charges following a 2022 incident when girls were found in a trailer he was driving.
Bateman, 50, was convicted on Friday, June 26, on three counts of child abuse in Coconino County, Arizona, according to the Associated Press and AZFamily.
Bateman, who was legally representing himself in court, was found guilty after he was previously sentenced to 50 years in prison on federal charges.
He was hit with the latest charges four years after police pulled him over while he was driving a trailer through Flagstaff, Arizona. Police found three girls, who were between the ages of 11 to 14, in the back of his vehicle, which featured a makeshift toilet and seating.
Authorities knew to pull over the trailer after they were notified by passersby who saw fingers through the gaps in the trailer’s doors.
On the first day of his recent trial, Bateman claimed he is a “kind and loving father” and he doesn’t “even spank my children,” according to a video posted by Hidden True Crime.
While acting as his own defense in the state case, Bateman told jurors he knew the girls were sitting in the hot trailer for hours though insisted the conditions were fine.
“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said. “I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle.”
Bateman also alleged that he thought the girls got out of the trailer before he was pulled over, claiming he was “shocked as could possibly be” when he realized they were still in the trailer.
During the closing arguments, prosecutor Eric Ruchensky argued that it’s “common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation.”
The jury revealed that they found Bateman guilty on June 26, according to the Associated Press. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25, and it is up to the judge to determine if his sentences for each count will run consecutively or concurrently.
Each of the three counts of child abuse he’s been convicted of carries a mandatory sentence of four to eight years in prison.
Bateman was previously sentenced to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and transport a minor for criminal sexual activity in 2024, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.
The trials took place after he was arrested in 2022 for spending years “amassing ‘wives’ from his followers in several states … 10 of whom were under the age of 18,” according to a Justice Department news release.
Bateman created a following in 2019, in which he convinced his followers to give him their minor daughters to serve as his “spiritual wives.” The DOJ said that he had acquired 15 girls by the time of his arrest.
His victims were as young as 9 years old, and at least 10 of the girls were abused.
Prosecutors claimed during the trials that Bateman sexually assaulted the girls himself, as well as forced them to participate in sexual activities with other adults.
