Sam Amico
A polygamous Mormon leader used phones from jail to conduct “explicit sexual conversations” with children, according to a new federal filing, via the New York Post.
Videos by Rare
Sam Bateman, 46, is serving time for allegedly kidnapping underage girls. While in jail on suspicion of sex trafficking in November, he referred to a 13-year-old girl as his “sexy darling” during a video call, the filing from the U.S. attorney in Arizona states. Bateman’s adult wives were also said to be on the call.
But it got worse, as Bateman also reportedly made more sexually explicit comments to the teen and mentioned “all the sacred times” he shared with her.
He made similar comments and references to two 16-year-old girls in another call, the filing states.
Sam Bateman
Bateman has multiple wives and claims to be a prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), an offshoot of Mormonism that practices polygamy. Many Mormons have denounced the Fundamentalist Church and its teachings.
Along with the sexually explicit comments, the filing accused Bateman of using the jailhouse phone system to order his wives to deliver “intimidating messages to a government witness from outside the community.”
Bateman was arrested in August when law-enforcement officers found three underage “girls “wives” locked inside a trailer he was towing near Flagstaff, Arizona.
“A raid of his two properties unearthed evidence of incest, group sexual activity involving both adults and minors, and child sex trafficking,” the Post reported.
Bateman had been a follower of Warren Jeffs, another self-appointed prophet who is serving a life sentence for child sex abuse.
