Former FLDS leader Samuel Bateman gets 24 years for Arizona child abuse convictions

PHOENIX - New insight is emerging into what happened inside the courtroom this week as convicted child sex abuse ring leader Samuel Bateman received his latest sentence connected to his crimes while acting as a self-proclaimed prophet for a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offshoot on the Arizona-Utah border.

FOX 10 spoke with one of the women who helped bring Bateman down.

What we know:

Dr. Christine Marie was one of the main faces of a recent Netflix documentary, "Trust Me: The False Prophet," which showcases the years-long FBI investigation into Bateman that led to his arrest in 2023.

This week's sentencing was tied to a 2022 traffic stop near Flagstaff caught on police bodycam footage. Police found several young girls locked inside a hot, unventilated trailer, leading to Bateman's arrest on state child abuse charges.

"It was a Herculean effort for even one person to come forward because of the fear," Christine Marie said. "Now, their fear seems to be gone."

Cult psychology expert Dr. Christine Marie spent years documenting the life of polygamist sect leader Samuel Bateman in an effort to bring him to justice for his child sex crimes.

Video and audio recordings of Bateman taken by Christine Marie and her husband, film producer Tolga Katas, were featured in the Netflix documentary. This included on-camera confessions from Bateman regarding sex acts involving minors.

This week, Christine Marie watched as Bateman, already serving 50 years on federal charges, was sentenced to an additional 24 years for an Arizona child abuse conviction. Several of his former wives spoke out against him during victim impact statements.

What they're saying:

"These women, and some are still children, stood up and took their power back and their dignity back," Christine Marie said. "They looked at Sam, several of them, directly and gave him a piece of their mind and showed them that his power was over."

Among the speakers was a woman named Julia, a mother who saw multiple daughters wed off to Bateman. A copy of Julia's handwritten statement sent to FOX 10 details a portion of her courtroom speech in which she speaks directly to Bateman, referencing his prior messaging about the devil, saying, "Upon second look - it was you!" Julia went on to say, "You are not God's gift to women. You will have to answer to a higher power."

"It was almost miraculous to see the reversal," Christine Marie said. "The strength of the women and the powerlessness of that predator."

Dig deeper:

Christine Marie says communities must remain educated and vigilant in order to prevent new false prophets from gaining power.

"These power dynamics are very attractive to predators, so if they can find a way to use religion to cover their crimes, they will continue to rise up and take control of people's lives and exploit them for their own advantage," Christine Marie said.

Christine Marie says the survivors of Bateman's abuse are all forging their own paths now, with some attending college, some pursuing entertainment careers, and some still in high school.