Arizona polygamist sect leader pleads not guilty in new underage-sex indictment
An Arizona polygamist sect leader and three of his followers pled not guilty in U.S. District Court on Friday to charges against them in a 55-count federal indictment alleging the sexual coercion of underage girls.
All four remain in custody because they were considered flight risks and a danger to the girls. Bateman and two women are being held without bond.
In September, Samuel Bateman, 47, was arrested by federal agents and accused of destruction of evidence. At the time, nine underage girls were removed from his home and placed into Arizona Department of Child Safety custody.
A new indictment, unsealed earlier this month, alleges that over four years Bateman coerced at least 10 underage girls to join him after claiming that God wanted them to be his wives. Bateman now faces 51 felony counts.
A month after the initial arrest, Bateman, Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow, and Moretta Johnson, who Bateman claimed were his wives, were arrested and charged with kidnapping charges after an attempt was made to abduct the nine girls across state lines.
The four co-defendants were arraigned Friday in Phoenix, in connection with the new indictment filed on May 18. In the new 56-page indictment federal prosecutors charged seven others on counts that included making pornography, transporting girls, aged 9 to 17, for sex, and using interstates to coerce them into sex acts.
Read the report: 56-page Redacted Second Superseding Indictment
Bateman proclaimed himself a prophet in 2019 of a splintered Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect in Colorado City, Arizona. This came after Warren Jeffs, the man who helped found and led the polygamist group in the area, was convicted of sexually assaulting underage girls.
In U.S. District Court on Friday, Bateman was the first to face Judge Michael Morrissey. Bateman stepped into the small, quiet, and largely empty courtroom wearing a yellow jumpsuit, and smiled, glossy-eyed, at the only two women who showed up to support him.
The two women, one middle-aged and another younger, lugging a baby in a carrier, returned his smile.
They differed from past followers in that they dressed in jeans and plain shirts and not the typical colonial-like dresses common in FLDS circles.
The two didn’t reveal their names, but the older one told reporters that she expected Bateman would be freed and acquitted of the charges.
Bateman pled not guilty to the new charges against him. He was represented by attorney Andrew Marcantel and attorney Marc Victor, who ran for U.S. Senate in Arizona and lost in the November election.
Bistline, Barlow, and Johnson again pled not guilty in the new indictment though they are being charged with the same counts of kidnapping and conspiracy as an earlier indictment.
Barlow appeared in court wearing a black-and-white striped jumpsuit and glasses. She, too, glanced at the two women in Bateman’s corner. Barlow was represented by attorney Sandra Hamilton at the hearing.
Bistline wore a red jumpsuit and appeared a little dazed. She looked around and caught sight of the two women. Attorney Cindy Castillo and attorney Jose Saldivar represented Bistline in court.
Johnson, 19, the youngest of the four, was the last to face the judge. She walked out in a red jumpsuit, her face mostly hidden behind bright blond hair. Attorney Steve Wallin represented her in court.
The next hearing set for the case is a status hearing on Jun 20.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: FLDS sect leader Samuel Bateman pleads not guilty in child sex case
