19 Disturbing Details on Cult ‘Prophet’ Samuel Bateman in New Netflix Doc

Why are you asking my name? I'm asking for your name. Sir. Yes, sir. What is your name? Samuel Bateman. Samuel what? Samuel Bateman. Put your hands behind your. >> Put your hands behind you. Put your. hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Let's not do this right now, huh? FLDS. cult prophet Samuel Bateman [music] is. back in the spotlight as a new Netflix.

docu-series gives us a never-before-seen. look inside his secretive, polygamous. group tucked away along the Arizona-Utah. border. [music]. And we are learning more about the key. role played by a couple on the outside. [music]. risking it all to expose the disturbing. reality behind Bateman's teachings. [music] ultimately leading to his. arrest. Welcome to Sidebar presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Hey guys, real quick before we move on.

We have another Law & Crime legal alert. for you. This is about Roblox. They are. under fire for allegedly not taking. adequate safety measures to protect. children on its platform. That's right. The popular virtual universe has. millions of users who are minors, yet. players can customize their avatars to. hide their age and gender. This is a. feature that may also be available to. predators with bad intentions. Look, you. might not even realize the dangers that. Roblox arguably poses for your child, but if your child was sexually abused or. assaulted or groomed by someone they met.

on Roblox, you may qualify for potential. compensation. Look, children may not. know better, but Roblox arguably should. And our legal sponsors are seeking. justice for families that are affected. by this alleged gross negligence. So, visit gamingadvocates.com. to start your free confidential case. evaluation. Get a mentor. Pay a bunch of money if you have to, but. get somebody to show you how to achieve. what it is that you want in life. Samuel. Bateman painted himself as somebody much.

more powerful than a mentor. In fact, he. became a self-proclaimed messenger of. God to his 50 followers. Oh, and 20-plus. wives. This was all part of a. fundamentalist offshoot of the Church of. Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. residing in the community of Short. Creek. It's a remote area across the. Utah-Arizona state lines. That is until. Bateman's world came crumbling down in. 2022 because through the new Netflix. docu-series Trust Me: The False Prophet,

former and current members of the FLDS. Church gave a first-hand perspective of. Samuel Bateman's rise to power and the. extreme influence he had over this. congregation leading to the horrifying. allegations that landed him behind bars. for decades. And a big reason this came. to light was through the work of cult. researcher Dr. Christine Marie and her. videographer her videographer husband, I. should say, Tolga Karas. The brave. couple who set out on a mission to gain.

Bateman and his group's trust so that. they could document their day-to-day. life and ultimately catch Bateman's. crimes right on film for the federal. authorities for the FBI. Now, there is a. lot of shocking details from this. investigation. This new docu-series it. adds an even more disturbing dimension. to this cult saga. We're going to walk. you through all of this step by step. beginning with Bateman's rise to the top. within the FLDS community. So, the. reality is.

this likely wouldn't have played out if. it wasn't for the life imprisonment of. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs who was. convicted in 2011 for sexually. assaulting two of his purported child. brides. Though it is asserted by law. enforcement he had up to 78 wives with. several of them being underage girls. According to FLDS members that were. included in the Netflix special, Jeffs'. lengthy imprisonment that would cause a. big rift in the community structure with. Jeffs even ordering his followers to put.

marriage and childbirth on hold. altogether ultimately risking a. population decline. So, from this. apparent desperate situation there were. new opportunities for leaders to emerge. And that is where Samuel Bateman comes. in because Samuel Bateman reportedly. used this to his advantage. Law. enforcement claim that Bateman started. to proclaim he was a prophet in 2019. that there had been some kind of. spiritual transfer from Warren Jeffs. In. the documentary, former FLDS members.

claim Bateman even told some of them. Jeffs was dead. And why is that. important? Because this would allow him. to establish credibility without a. formal blessing from Jeffs himself and. for Bateman to allow marriage and. procreation to resume within the. community. Center your whole life around helping. other people. And it'll help you be successful. So, according to a criminal complaint. that was connected to this case and. we'll talk about the charges later on, Bateman was originally married to just.

one woman and had one daughter born in. 2005. But that marriage dissolved after. Bateman allegedly proclaimed he had a. feeling or vision that he should take. his own daughter as his wife. She would. have been around 14 at the time. After. his wife left him, he began taking on. more wives both young and old. This is. according to investigators. That number. would reportedly climb to more than 20. wives by the time of his arrest with law. enforcement asserting many of them were. minors, mostly under the age of 15. Now,

in addition to growing his own immediate. polygamous family, Bateman also gained. male followers in the process and that. included Moroni Johnson, Torrance. Bislain, and Ladell Bislain Jr. who are. brought up in the documentary. So, according to law enforcement at least. one former wife and seven of Johnson's. daughters were married to Bateman. including two minors. Bislain Jr.'s wife. and two of his minor daughters were also. married to Bateman. We'll revisit more. about those followers later on. But. Christine Marie, who I mentioned.

earlier, emphasized in the documentary. how tight-knit Bateman kept his. polygamous circle. And it took her and. her husband Tolga a little time some. time to form a close enough relationship. with him to gain access to this Short. Creek community and ultimately. permission to film it. So, Christine and. Tolga they arrived in the area around. 2015 to originally help with flood. relief efforts and eventually they found. a nonprofit to support victims of human. trafficking called Voices for Dignity.

And the couple permanently relocated to. Short Creek to continue supporting FLDS. members and build relationships with the. community. In the documentary, Christine. talks about her own story and how her. life was almost taken from her when she. fell into a cult. She said she felt. compelled to help others get out of a. very similar situation. So, Christine. and Tolga told law enforcement they. first met Bateman around 2020. Tolga. claimed that Bateman tried to be a. successful businessman, but that didn't. appear to work out and his latest. ventures were in real estate and goal.

coaching. One of the biggest. hindrances to success is excuseitis. So, any successful person, very successful. person, every one of them that I've ever met or. seen or talked to or read about, they have always. overcome. the all their excuses. They do not make. excuses. Around the time they met,

Bateman was being evicted from his home. in Colorado City, Arizona and according. to a probable cause affidavit that was. later filed against him, he appeared to. be a broken man. By the end of that. year, Bateman would travel to Christine. and Tolga's home in a large SUV packed. with women and girls all of whom Bateman. apparently introduced as his wives, the. youngest being around 9 years old. It. was also around the end of 2020 that. complaints to law enforcement would. start coming in about Ladell Bislain. Jr.'s minor children and their marriages.

to Bateman. So, law enforcement they. eventually detained Bateman over the. situation, but the minor's parents said. the claims were just rumors. No charges. were reportedly pressed. And around that. same time a forensic interview was also. conducted with the daughter that Bateman. shared with his ex-wife. And in that. interview, his daughter described an. incident on a family trip to Canada. where Bateman allegedly told her he felt. like she was his wife. That if his. feelings were right, he would make her.

have a child. The daughter also accused. Bateman of expressing uncomfortable. desires to hug and kiss and have sex. with her over text message. And during. that interview, she even claimed she saw. Bateman hug and kiss one of his young. wives over a video call. That's all. called wife was allegedly around 10. years old. You fast forward to 2021. Christine and Tolga they would start. visiting Bateman's properties and. filming what they portrayed to be a. documentary about the FLDS way of life.

through Bateman's journey and teachings. And this footage is basically the focal. point throughout the whole Netflix. series. And at first, the footage. captures, you know, routine gatherings, meals, choir performances. And during. these initial interactions, it appears. Bateman, his wives, his followers, they. share this kind of positive dynamic. At. least at the very least, everyone kind. of puts on a smile. But right off the bat, Christine. expressed in the Netflix film that she.

was concerned with the fact that the. minors were married to Bateman in the. first place. And the viewers came to. learn that the ugly truth would reveal. itself as the cameras kept on rolling. Because in November of 2021, Christine. reported to law enforcement that she. audio recorded a conversation with. Bateman and three of his wives, one of. whom was a minor. And on the recording, part of which was played in the. docu-series, they recounted what they. called the atonement ceremony. So, according to the probable cause. statement, the ceremony involved Bateman.

giving these three wives to his three. male followers, Ledell Jr., Torrence, Moroni, to have sex with while Bateman. watched. This would be the turning point. for Christine and Tolga's journey into. Bateman's polygamous world. The. recordings from that conversation were. handed over to law enforcement. The case. was referred to federal authorities, and. that is when Christine and Tolga started. working with FBI special agent Don. Martin, who also appeared in the Netflix. special. And Christine and Tolga went.

from strictly filmmakers to FBI. informants with the goal of gathering. enough evidence against Bateman to get. him arrested on illegal sex acts. So, eventually, the documentary takes a. closer look at the life of one of. Bateman's followers. We're talking about. Julia Johnson. This is the wife of. Moroni Johnson, and she. and Moroni shared five daughters. together, including two minors, and all. the girls were married to Bateman. So, now it's July of 2022, and Julia comes.

forward to Christine and begins to. express concern over Bateman's behavior. and what she claimed she had taken part. in behind closed doors. As shown during. this Netflix docuseries, Julia agrees to. discuss her concerns on camera, ultimately worked with Christine and. Tolga and the FBI on this secret. operation, risking her relationship with. her children, Bateman, the community as. a whole. Let's go to this FBI criminal. complaint because it begins with what. Julia shared with Christine. Quote,

"Julia stated Bateman required the women. and girls to confess in public in front. of the other women and girls. When. Julia's daughter, JD number three, born. in 2006, was 14 or 15 years old, she. expressed fears of having a baby to. Julia. Julia believes JD three was. concerned because Bateman was having. sexual relations with her. Julia said Bateman demanded everyone to. make confessions. He encouraged the. confessions to be as vulgar as possible. Bateman then distributed the confessions. to a group email or text. Bateman.

assigned corrections that he claimed the. Lord had made as he chose. A correction. is a punishment ranging from a short. time out, a day's-long time out, or a. public shaming. He blasted the corrections out to all. the family members either by group email. or text. So, the following month, Julia. agrees to speak with special FBI agent. Don Martin and gives an even more. detailed account of the allegations. involving Bateman and his followers. According to Julia, Bateman required all. the women in the group to turn over any. money that they made, with Julia herself.

admitting that she also gave him money. And Julia said her husband, Moroni, used. his funds to provide for the girls and. the babies, including food, household. products, personal care items. And. meanwhile, Bateman reportedly didn't. have a job. She then tells the FBI agent. about Bateman gradually taking Julia and. Moroni's daughters to be his wives. And. some of these allegations included in. the criminal complaint, as you can. imagine, are terrifying. Quote, "Bateman. read some revelations and commanded. Moroni to give him JD six, one of his.

daughters with previous wife AB, born in. 2010, who would have been around 12 at. the time of this interview, as Bateman's. wife. Moroni expressed great anguish and. was under extreme stress over having to. give his youngest daughter to Bateman. Bateman took JD six as a wife and. returned to Colorado City, Arizona in. May 2020. Julia believes JD six has. slept with Bateman because the other. girls called Julia to see how to deal. with JD six's bedwetting. MJ and SJ said.

Bateman was disgusted when JD six would. wet on him. Bateman also took Johnson, formerly referenced as JD two, another. daughter of Moroni and Julia, born in. 2003, as his wife. Johnson had a baby in. 2021, 7 months after she turned 18, meaning she almost certainly conceived. when she was 17. Quote, "In August 2020, Bateman took JD three, born in 2006, as.

his wife, who at the time of this. interview would have been around 16. JD. three was expecting to be taken by. Bateman, but did not want to go with. him. JD three is also a daughter of. Moroni and Julia. After Bateman took JD. three, he took JD five, a daughter of. Moroni with AB, born in 2007, who would. have been around 15 at the time of this. interview. Bateman next took JD four, born in 2009, the last daughter of. Moroni and Julia. JD four would have. been around 13 at the time of this.

interview. JD four went silent after Bateman took. her for as a wife. Julia tried to. comfort JD four and said she could tell. Bateman she didn't want to be with him. Julia allowed JD four to sleep in the. room with Julia, but Bateman made JD. four sleep in his room with him and. rebuked Julia for hindering JD four. from her godly duties. I don't know if. you can tell, but I'm actually. physically disgusted at this as I'm. reading it. This is one of the hardest. things I've read in quite some time.

But from this point on, the allegations. from Julia just get worse because there. is court paperwork that was filed. against Bateman, and it gives us. even more details about some of the. alleged misconduct by Bateman and his. followers that the documentary didn't. necessarily dig into, and I'm going to. warn you, it is not easy to listen to, okay? Quote, "While in Lincoln, Nebraska, Bateman directed Moroni to call Julia. and have her bring BB and MJ to a local.

motel. BB Barlow, AB two and JD seven, born in. 2008 and would have been around 14 at. the time of this interview, are all. sisters. MJ is the adult daughter of. Moroni and has a baby with Bateman. Bateman and Moroni were lying naked on. the two beds. Bateman had the three ladies take off. their clothes and join the men. Bateman talked about father Adam and. mother Eve and how in heaven people. watched them engage in sexual acts.

Bateman had Moroni and Julia have sex in. front of BB and MJ, Moroni and Julia's. daughter, to teach them how to better. pleasure Bateman. Another allegation from Julia is that. Bateman allegedly gave one of Moroni's. wives to Ledell Jr. in order to sexually. comfort him over the fact his own wife. married Bateman. Now, before that, Bateman allegedly sent. two of Julia and Moroni's minor. daughters to sexually comfort Ledell Jr. Here's another sexual allegation.

mentioned by Julia that involved the. motel in late 2020. Quote, "Bateman. decided he needed to complete the. binding of brothers act. At Bateman's. direction, the following people went to. a motel room. Bateman, BB Barlow, both. minors, Moroni and Julia's daughters, MJ and. Johnson, a minor at the time. Moroni, Julia, ZB, Ledell Jr. and GB, who is now Ledell Jr.'s wife. Julia. described everyone was naked. Bateman. brought wine and drank it despite the.

FLDS religion not condoning the. consumption of alcohol. The rest of that encounter is just way. too graphic to even describe, but it. goes on to to basically say that. Bateman's wives, including several. minors, engaged in sex acts with him and. later. shared a bed with Bateman that same. night. Now, the criminal complaint continues. with Julia telling the FBI about alleged. statements Bateman made to her, including this one. Quote, "Bateman told. Julia he had Torrence, one of his adult. male followers, with JD seven, born in.

2008, so she would have been around 14. at the time of the interview, and. Torrence performed sexual acts on her. Bateman also had Moroni be with LB two, also a minor, sexually, and Ledell Jr. with Bisline, formerly referenced as NB. Bateman said he watched these sexual. acts. Bateman made the men do these sexual. acts as an atonement for their wicked. deeds. Julia knew this incident was. referred to as the atonement.

Now, in addition to sex acts in large. groups, Julia described other lewd. behavior she reportedly observed within. this community. Quote, "Julia learned. that Bateman required the women and. girls to remove their traditional long. underwear, worn to protect their bodies. and virtue, after they engaged in sexual. acts with or in front of Bateman. Bateman said since they were now of. purity and obedience, they did not need. the protection of long underwear. Julia did the laundry in the house, and. all the girls had gotten rid of their. long underwear, including the girls.

under the age of 15. The girls started. wearing red lacy underpants. Julia has. witnessed Bateman, when the girls would. ride in the front seat of the vehicle, reach over and touch their breasts. Specifically, Bateman touched the. breasts of her daughter, JD four, born. in 2009, so would have been around 13 at. the time of the interview. Bateman would also reach over and touch. the girls on their thighs. The girls. were also required to touch Bateman. And now we know eventually on August. 28th, 2022, Bateman was arrested by the. Arizona Department of Public Safety for.

child endangerment. The whole incident. was caught on police body cam footage. This was also walked through during the. Netflix special. And this particular. incident stemmed from people spotting a. set of hands at top of the doors of a. box trailer that was hitched to the back. of Bateman's vehicle. Officers later. learned at least three minor girls were. riding unsecured in the trailer. Come over here, please. Let me I'm going to get that knife off. you, sir, okay? Any other weapons on you? No.

Okay. Come over here, please. Nothing else on you? Phones? Um. Just have you reach in your pockets. What's your name, sir? What's that? What's your name, sir? Samuel. Samuel? No, what are you saying. about pockets? Do you have any other. weapons on you? No. Please don't reach. in your pockets. just let me. I have nothing in. We're out here because there is supposed. to be people back there.

How many other people are in the truck? Any information I give can and will be. held against me. Well, I just want to. know who's inside the truck right now, so that way I know who else we're. dealing with here. Or else I'm going to call everybody out. As you can see, this is a pretty serious. deal here, sir.

What is your name? Samuel. Samuel what? Do I have to say my name? I'm asking for your name. I don't have. to say it, right? Sir. Yes, sir. What is your name? Samuel. Samuel what? Are you the driver? Yeah.

Okay, you have to identify yourself. You. understand that, right? >> know. I'm just warning you. Yeah, Samuel. Bateman. Samuel Bateman. I don't understand what. What are you doing? We're trying to make sure people. >> just got here. Explain to me what's. going on. I'm from. Here. I'm being videoed and discussed. with. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. >> being videoed as well. Yeah. Okay. Um. Stuff?

Samuel Bateman, what's your date of. birth? Which one do you. What is your date of birth, sir? I'm not. going to say. Okay. All right, sir. Turn around for me. Put your hands behind your. >> Put your hands behind you. Put your. hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Let's not do this right now, huh? You. are being detained until you identify. yourself. Yes, you have to identify yourself. You. are being detained for a crime.

We're still putting you in handcuffs, so. just sit tight. This is the police. We're going to be. opening the door. I want your hands empty AND ABOVE YOUR. HEAD. If you do not, you will suffer the. consequences. Again, this is the police.

Pull down. Pull down the handle. Where are the hands? Let's see the. hands. Let's get that other door open. There was hands sticking out of the top. of the trailer. There was hands sticking out of the top. of the trailer earlier. Let's see them.

Let's see your hands. There they are. They're in the front. >> Behind the curtain. Okay. Keep your hands up for me. Go and. walk out towards me, okay? Try not to. slip, all right? Just keep walking. Is there anybody else inside the. trailer? No? Perfect. Thank you, guys. Just sit back there. with your siblings, okay?

Go and head back there with them, okay? Thank you so much. How old are you? 14. 14. How old are you? 11. How old are. you? 12. You? How old are you? You guys from San. I think you know, but I don't I don't I. don't I don't know. I'm Arizona. Okay. I'm already saying right now I'm not. going to say anything. Okay.

Inside the trailer, first responders. find a sofa, some camping chairs, a. makeshift toilet, and while Bateman was. in jail, law enforcement said he tried. to get his followers to delete his. Signal account, the mobile messenger app. that he used to communicate with his. wives and followers. And at the time, law enforcement took his phone away from. him. So, Bateman actually was bailed out. a few days later on September 1st, and. in the Netflix documentary, you see that. Christine and Telaga actually picked him. up from the jail. During the recorded. car ride, remember they're working with.

law enforcement, Bateman asked Telaga. how he could factory reset his cell. phone at home or through the phone's. providers. And according to official. filings, this acted as proof that he was. trying to tamper with evidence. And he. was indicted on related charges five. days later. The biggest moment in the. Netflix documentary came when Christine. and Telaga developed a plan to help the. FBI raid the Short Creek community. They. convinced Bateman to participate in a. one-on-one interview about his spiritual. journey for the documentary at a.

separate studio, keeping him and his. wives away from the properties. And on. the second day of those interviews, September 13th, 2022, the FBI conducts. this raid. And the moment they went to. arrest Bateman was also caught on film. Following day, nine minor females were. taken into child protective custody. They were forensically interviewed and. they were placed in group homes pending. uh dependency proceedings. And the. criminal complaint said that at first. the girls didn't disclose Bateman's. sexual abuse, though at least one of.

them did apparently admit to being. present and partially nude for one of. the sexual orgies that we previously. mentioned. But eventually, in November. of 2022, investigators received a tip. that one of the minors did disclose. sexual abuse by Bateman while in the. group home. The detective also mentioned. she sees journals during the search. warrants detailing uh some of the girls. sleeping with Bateman, kissing him, touching him. And during the Netflix. special, it is also revealed eight of. the nine minor children ran away from.

the group homes on November 27th, 2022, with the orchestrated help of Bateman. and several adult wives. Four days. later, the minors were found in a. vehicle driven by one of Bateman's adult. wives in Spokane, Washington. Seven of. Bateman's adult wives were convicted of. crimes including coercing children into. sexual activity and interfering with the. investigation into Bateman. All three. male followers, Moroni Johnson, Torrance. Bisline, and Ladell Bisline Jr., they. were convicted and sentenced to decades.

in prison for their own child sex crimes. in connection to Bateman's operation. When you make a mistake, just own up to. it. So, yeah, hey, I made a mistake. Sorry. about that. One of Bateman's most devout. wives, who was also included in the. documentary, Naomi Bisline, also served. prison time, but has since been released. and has left the FLDS church. Hi, everyone. I'm Naoms from the. documentary Trust Me: The False Prophet. on Netflix. I wanted to come on here and.

thank you all so much for the support. I've been receiving. I didn't expect it to be this much, but. thank you. It means a lot to me. And as. for Bateman, he pleaded guilty to. federal charges of conspiracy to commit. transportation of a minor for criminal. sexual activity and conspiracy to commit. kidnapping in on April 1st, 2024, and he. was sentenced to 50 years in prison. followed by a lifetime of supervised.

release. Christine Marie shared a video on TikTok. responding to this Netflix special, now, by the way, in the top 10 shows in the. US. I want to give a heartfelt shout-out. to everybody who has reached out in love. and kindness. And for all your support. for the entire world that is watching. this docuseries Trust Me: The False. Prophet and responding with with love. and empathy, particularly for the people. that are in the series, including those.

who have not yet come walked away from. their from the false prophet. It's. incredible, the lack of victim shaming. and the outpouring of support for. everybody. I'm just overwhelmed, and I. just can't thank you enough. And. Christine and Telaga say they plan to. continue their work within the FLDS. community. That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. As always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can also check us out on.

NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to. follow me, [music] X Instagram, I. NewsNation show Jesse Weber Live, Monday. through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll. see you next [music] time, everybody.