Polygamous sect leader guilty of abuse after girls found in trailer on highway

Samuel Bateman, a polygamous sect leader, was convicted on Friday of state child abuse charges. This conviction follows his existing 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children. The state charges stem from an incident in 2022 when authorities were alerted to a trailer Bateman was hauling through Arizona. Responding officers stopped Bateman's vehicle in Flagstaff and discovered three girls, aged 11 to 14 at the time, inside the unventilated trailer. The trailer was equipped with a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs. The alert to authorities was reportedly triggered by a witness who observed small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer's doors.