A cult leader who claimed to be a prophet and had 20 so-called wives, including 10 children, forced them to have sex with strangers while he watched, according to a new Netflix documentary. Samuel Rappylee Bateman led a breakaway Mormon fundamentalist group in the US and used his religious authority to coerce vulnerable women and girls.
Among his so-called wives were girls as young as nine, with Bateman claiming that each new 'marriage' gave him the right to begin sexually abusing them. Dr Christine Marie, part of a team that infiltrated the cult, has spoken about the abuse she witnessed and the hate she receives from those who still follow him.
Undercover work and disturbing footage
Dr Marie and her husband Tolga Katas infiltrated Bateman's group in 2019 while filming a documentary about the religious community. In 2021, she captured footage of Bateman describing an "atonement" ceremony in which he claimed to be giving away his wives and ordered them to have sex with other men. Following her work, she collaborated with the FBI to help expose his crimes.
Speaking to Australian outlet news.com.au, Dr Marie revealed that some members of the community in Short Creek, on the border of Utah and Arizona, still defend the disgraced leader. She said: "I get a lot of hugs and support from people in town, but I have my haters. People from Sam's group, they're on a mission to make everybody hate me."
Investigation and sentencing
When authorities investigated, they discovered three girls aged between 11 and 14 inside a poorly ventilated trailer containing a makeshift toilet. Bateman was eventually sentenced to 50 years behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy offences involving the transportation of a minor for sexual activity and kidnapping.
Dr Marie, whose story features in Netflix's Trust Me: The False Prophet, told news.com.au that she had previously been manipulated by another self-proclaimed prophet who kept her isolated in a filthy hotel room and forced her to have sex with strangers.
