Fall of the new FLDS prophet

In the wake of infamous FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs locked up in prison, a new leader emerged: Samuel Bateman. Bateman started his own offshoot of the polygamous religion, taking in multiple wives and child brides as young as 9 years old. An FLDS survivor and advocates tried to sound the alarm to the FBI for years, but it wouldn’t be until a bizarre traffic stop in Flagstaff that Bateman would be caught. From there this story exploded: sex trafficking schemes, naked “sacred ordinances,” kidnapping, and an FBI raid. After years and multiple plea deals, Samuel Bateman learned his prison fate in a Phoenix federal courtroom in December 2024. And for the first time, the once child victims spoke directly to him before the judge had the last word.

Arizona’s Family journalists Briana Whitney and Serjio Hernandez take a deep dive into both unsolved and solved cases around Arizona — retracing steps, uncovering new evidence, and revealing new theories from those involved in the investigations.