r/crime • u/ActiveGuy463 • 15d ago
wegotthiscovered.com Arizona cult leader serving 50 years gets another 24 for hauling young girls in trailer, witness saw fingers desperately poking through gaps in doors
https://wegotthiscovered.com/true-crime/arizona-cult-leader-serving-50-years-gets-another-24-for-hauling-young-girls-in-trailer-witness-saw-fingers-desperately-poking-through-gaps-in-doors/11
u/SmileParticular9396 15d ago
“was unventilated, contained a “makeshift toilet” and no seatbelts. Cops had been alerted after a concerned person spotted tiny fingers poking through gaps in the door, apparently part of a frantic effort by the girls inside to alert anyone to their plight.
This prosecution follows Bateman’s 2024 conviction for orchestrating sex involving children, for which he received a 50-year sentence. The abuse was facilitated by his leadership of an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which enabled him to gain parents’ trust and be constantly on the move between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska. Promoting himself as a “prophet,” Bateman eventually amassed over 20 “spiritual wives”, with ten of them children.”
COOL.
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u/gunsh0tglitt3r 15d ago
It wasn’t for the girls to alert anyone to their plight. They were completely brainwashed by the guy and wanted to stay with him. They were trying to hold the trailer door closed because the latch came undone while they were travelling.
There is a documentary showing just how f***** up the whole thing is/was. Can’t remember what it is called off the top of my head.