Arizona polygamous leader Samuel Bateman had 20 wives, most under age 15By Isabel Keane
December 4, 2022
An Arizona polygamist cult leader has been accused of marrying 20 women, most of whom are under the age of 15, as well as his daughter.
Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 46, has been accused of marrying up to 20 women and girls as young as 9-years-old, according to an FBI affidavit filed Friday in Washington.
The affidavit, obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune, outlines horrifying accusations of incest, group sex acts involving adults and children and child sex trafficking against Bateman.
Bateman leads an offshoot group of the Mormon Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), but has been held in an Arizona jail since the FBI raided his two Colorado City homes in September.
Agents looked for evidence of underage marriages or sexual relationships between adults and children, according to the Tribune.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/12/04/polygamous-leader-samuel-bateman-had-20-wives-most-under-age-15/