Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,568 posts)
Tue Dec 6, 2022, 08:23 AM Dec 2022

Polygamist leader claimed 20 'wives,' including minors, FBI says

Wedding cake? This guy needs a wedding bakery.

Polygamist leader claimed 20 ‘wives,’ including minors, FBI says

By Marisa Iati
December 5, 2022 at 7:35 p.m. EST



Family and followers of Samuel Bateman gather around as he calls from police custody after he was arrested in September in Arizona. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

The self-proclaimed prophet claimed it was “impressions of Heavenly Father’s will” that spurred him to force his followers, including children, to engage in sexual acts, according to new allegations from the FBI. ...Samuel Rappylee Bateman, a leader of an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, allegedly counted his own daughter and other juvenile girls among his more than 20 “wives.” Many of them were younger than 15, an FBI agent wrote in a court document filed Friday.

Bateman’s alleged foray into polygamy began in 2019, when he was married to one woman and had a daughter who was roughly 14. While in the car one day, the daughter later told investigators, Bateman said that he felt like she was his wife and that he would make her have a child if his feelings turned out to be right.

When Bateman told his actual wife, she moved out of their home with their daughter and got a restraining order against him, according to the court filing, previously reported by the Salt Lake Tribune. But Bateman allegedly continued to tell his daughter that he wanted to kiss and touch her. From then on, the FBI agent wrote, he accumulated wives.

Bateman, 46, is in federal custody in Arizona on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly asking followers to delete his Signal phone app, which he used to communicate with them and his wives. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge and to state-level child abuse charges. ... Bateman has not been charged with sex crimes, although the FBI agent said there is probable cause to believe that he engaged in criminal sexual activity with minors in 2020 and 2021. His attorneys did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday.

{snip}

By Marisa Iati
Marisa Iati is a reporter on the general assignment desk at The Washington Post. She previously worked at the Star-Ledger and NJ.com in New Jersey, where she covered municipal mayhem, community issues, education and crime. Twitter https://twitter.com/marisa_iati
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Polygamist leader claimed 20 'wives,' including minors, FBI says (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2022 OP
He told his 14 year old daughter he planned to impregnate her!! Somehow that has been Scrivener7 Dec 2022 #1
I bet NQAS Dec 2022 #2
No surprise. It's a cult founded by a child rapist. Smith had a 14-year-old girl they claim brewens Dec 2022 #3
+1 MLAA Dec 2022 #4
So creepy. And that church is still growing. Scrivener7 Dec 2022 #5

Scrivener7

(52,391 posts)
1. He told his 14 year old daughter he planned to impregnate her!! Somehow that has been
Tue Dec 6, 2022, 08:32 AM
Dec 2022

lost in all the headlines.

That's a Kingston Clan polygamous Mormon thing. They think their bloodline is too pure to share with anyone outside the family.

And PS: His "Heavenly Father" must be one sick fuck.

 

brewens

(15,359 posts)
3. No surprise. It's a cult founded by a child rapist. Smith had a 14-year-old girl they claim
Tue Dec 6, 2022, 09:02 AM
Dec 2022

was a wife. They give you some little house on the prairie bullshit to justify that crap when it was nothing more than a pervert with power over people wanting to rape young girls.

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Utah»Polygamist leader claimed...