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Published 14:28 09 Jun 2026 GMT
A jailed Mormon cult leader continues to exert control over some of his child "brides" and devoted followers despite serving a 50-year prison sentence.
Samuel Bateman is a self-proclaimed prophet and former leader within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).
His rise and fall is the subject of the Netflix series, Trust Me: The False Prophet, which shows how the 50-year-old took 20 "wives", including girls as young as nine years old, convinced followers he spoke for God, and ultimately ended up behind bars.
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Bateman rose to prominence after former FLDS leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison in 2011.
The Netflix series features footage gathered by cult researcher Christine Marie and her husband, videographer Tolga Katas, who documented Bateman's inner circle as his influence grew. Their material helped investigators build a case against him.
Federal prosecutors later accused the leader of sexually abusing children and manipulating followers for years.
He was arrested after police discovered him towing a trailer containing multiple women and three girls aged between 11 and 14.
"Through coercion and manipulation, Bateman regularly forced his victims to participate with him in individual and group sexual activities with adults and other children," the Department of Justice said in a press release.
"He gave one of the victims to an adult male follower to be sexually abused, and on another occasion, transmitted a live video stream of child sexual abuse to his followers. Bateman and others transported the victims between states to facilitate the sexual abuse, which continued until Bateman’s arrest on federal charges in September 2022," they added.
In April 2024, Bateman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
He was sentenced later that year to 50 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release.
Despite being locked up, Bateman continues to influence some of the women who still consider him their prophet.
According to Marie, his regular contact with loyal followers helps keep them under his influence.
"That communication with him is like an IV of indoctrination," she said, per The Mirror. "It's like they’re getting fed certainty right into their veins - their belief that he is talking to God."
Some followers have even described Bateman as a martyr, believing his imprisonment only reinforces his position within the group.
Court documents revealed Bateman continued trying to direct followers after his arrest. He was accused of calling some of his wives and instructing them to send "intimidating messages" to a government witness.
After prison officials restricted his phone privileges, prosecutors alleged the leader tried to get around the rules by using another inmate's PIN.
His wives were also accused of creating new email addresses and obtaining new phone numbers to continue communicating with him.
Federal court documents also alleged Bateman engaged in inappropriate conversations with children while in custody.
It was disclosed that he allegedly referred to a 13-year-old girl identified as Jane Doe 4 as a "sexy darling" and asked if she remembered their "sacred times" together.
He was also accused of having inappropriate conversations with a 16-year-old girl identified as Jane Doe 11.
"Despite Bateman's knowledge that his non-legal communications are monitored, he brazenly engaged in explicit sexual conversations with children, including with 13-year-old Jane Doe 4," prosecutors wrote.
At the time, he was banned from communicating with the girl.
After the underage girls considered to be Bateman's wives were removed from his custody and placed under state protection, the leader conspired with followers to take them back.
Eight girls later disappeared from foster care and were found hundreds of miles away in Washington state, inside a vehicle driven by one of the adult wives.
Bateman later admitted his role in the kidnapping scheme. Seven of his adult wives have since been convicted of crimes related to coercing children into abuse or obstructing the investigation.
Psychotherapist Gillie Jenkinson, who has spent more than 30 years working with former cult members, says Bateman's continuing influence is not unusual.
"Whether you're born into it or whether you join it as an adult, they do a job on you with your identity, because you have to be the person they want you to be," she told the Mirror. "They're having to obey, comply, they're terrified, and they're, you know, submissive."
She explained that cult leaders isolate followers from outside influences while teaching them that doubt is sinful.
"That internal conversation gets suppressed, and it's a control of, so the leadership controls that internal communication. So you start monitoring yourself, this is doubt, doubt is a sin. So you can't have an internal conversation with yourself," she said.
Jenkinson said recovery is possible, but it often takes time.
Marie told Netflix's Tudum that the first step is breaking contact with Bateman altogether.
"Once they break from him and from the other people who believe in him, then they can say, 'Wait, maybe I'm not so certain. Maybe he did make all this up so that he could get money, power, and sex - like every other cult leader,'" she said.
"Those women deserve a life of freedom. They deserve to find true love. They deserve to know what reality is. You can’t be free if you’re living in a world of fiction," she added.
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