Samuel Bateman, a polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence in a child sex abuse case, was convicted in Arizona on state child abuse charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in which authorities found three girls locked inside an enclosed trailer.A Coconino County jury found Bateman guilty Friday on three counts of child abuse.The verdict came after about 40 minutes of deliberation.
Bateman is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug.25.Each child abuse count carries a mandatory prison term of four to eight years.
The judge will decide whether the sentences run at the same time or one after another.The case centered on an August 2022 incident in Flagstaff, where police stopped Bateman after a witness reported seeing children’s fingers reaching through gaps in the doors of a trailer he was towing.Officers found three girls, then ages 11 to 14, inside the unventilated trailer.
It contained a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.SELF-PROCLAIMED ‘PROPHET’ WITH UNDERAGE ‘WIVES’ EXPOSED AFTER COUPLE HE TRUSTED HELPED UNCOVER ABUSE RINGSamuel Bateman, 50, is already serving 50 years for Conspiracy to Commit Transportation of a Minor for Criminal Sexual Activity and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping.(Coconino County Sheriff's)Prosecutors said Bateman knowingly endangered the girls by hauling them for hours in hot conditions inside a trailer meant for cargo, not passengers."It's common sense that you don't carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation," prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors during closing arguments.Bateman represented himself at trial, with appointed advisory counsel available.
Testifying in his own defense, he denied intending to hurt anyone.He acknowledged under questioning that the trailer was hot and poorly ventilated, but minimized the danger."I just trusted myself as a driver," he said.
"I asked God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle."SELF-PROCLAIMED ‘PROPHET’...