Samuel Bateman, 50, a leader of a polygamous sect and currently serving a 50-year federal sentence for orchestrating sex abuse involving children, was sentenced to an additional 24 years in prison on Tuesday, August 26, 2026. This state sentence followed his conviction on three counts of child abuse in Arizona.

The convictions stemmed from a traffic stop in August 2022 in Flagstaff, Arizona, where authorities discovered three girls aged 11 to 14 inside an unventilated trailer. The trailer contained a makeshift toilet, sofa, and camping chairs but lacked air conditioning and seat belts. Authorities were alerted after a tip about small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer doors.

Bateman's group was an offshoot of the polygamous sect once led by Warren Jeffs. He is serving his federal sentence for coercing girls as young as nine into sex acts and for plotting to kidnap girls from protective custody. The victim, who was 14 at the time of testimony, stated Bateman sexually abused her when she was 12.

Judge Joshua Steinlage cited the "insane danger" posed to the girls in the trailer and ordered Bateman to serve the state sentence consecutively after his federal term.

Ammon Barker, the Coconino County attorney, said in a statement, “Today’s sentence is about accountability for the harm done to these young victims. It also ensures that Mr Bateman will never again be in a position to harm a child.”

Federal authorities noted that Bateman traveled extensively across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska to build an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, historically based in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

Bateman represented himself during the sentencing hearing and did not request leniency, stating, “I love these dear people with all my heart, and I had no intention in the entire world to harm them.”