Samuel Bateman broke away from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) in 2019 to establish a polygamist cult near the Utah–Arizona border. Believing himself to be the heir of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs , Bateman, who was born in 1976, declared himself a prophet and coerced his followers to surrender their wives and daughters to him. After three years, he had taken more than 20 “spiritual” wives, 10 of whom were underage girls. Bateman was arrested in August 2022 when state police caught him transporting young girls in a trailer with no ventilation. He was released on bond but was arrested again the following month for obstruction of justice. In April 2024, the cult leader pleaded guilty to kidnapping and transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity and was later sentenced to 50 years in prison. Bateman’s demise is the subject of the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet , but he wasn’t the only one who faced legal consequences.…