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Leader of Arizona polygamous sect sentenced to 50 years in conspiracy to transport children for sex
A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody.
Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.
Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to be served concurrently.
The rest of the charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.
Authorities say that Bateman, 48, tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as FLDS, split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially abandoned polygamy in 1890.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Bateman after hearing statements in court by three teenage girls about the trauma they still struggle to overcome. Although they gave their names in court, The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual crime, and some appeared to still be minors.
“You should not have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women, ” Brnovich told Bateman, noting that for a nearly 49-year-old man the 50-year sentence was effectively a life sentence.
“You took them from their homes, from their families and made them into sex slaves,” the judge said. “You stripped them of their innocence and childhood.”
After the sentencing, the teens, who were accompanied by women who appear to have been foster parents, hugged and wept quietly. They were escorted out of court by a half dozen men and women in jackets with the slogan “Bikers Against Child Abuse.”
The alleged practice of sect members sexually abusing girls who they claim as spiritual “wives” has long plagued the FLDS. Jeffs was convicted of state charges in Texas in 2011 involving sexual assaults of his underage followers. Bateman was one of Jeffs’ trusted followers and declared himself, like Jeffs, to be a “prophet” of the FLDS. Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written “revelation” sent to his followers from prison, and then tried to start his own group.
In 2019 and 2020, insisting that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and that he was acting on orders from the “Heavenly Father,” Bateman began taking female adults and children from his male followers and proclaiming them to be his “wives,” the plea agreement said. While none of these “marriages” were legally or ceremonially recognized, Bateman acknowledged that each time he claimed another “wife,” it marked the beginning of his illicit sexual contact with the woman or girl.
Federal agents said Bateman demanded that his followers confess publicly for any indiscretions and he imposed punishments that ranged from public shaming to sexual activity, including requiring that some male followers atone for their “sins” by surrendering their own wives and daughters to him.
Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and regularly coerced underage girls into his criminal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said. Recordings of some of his sex crimes were transmitted across state lines via electronic devices.
Bateman was arrested in August 2022 by state police as he drove through Flagstaff pulling a trailer. Someone had alerted authorities after spotting small fingers reaching through the slats of the door. Inside the trailer, which had no ventilation, they found a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs and three girls, 11 to 14 years old.
Bateman posted bond but was soon arrested again, accused of obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for his sex crimes. Authorities also took nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City into protective custody.
Eight of the children later escaped from foster care in Arizona, and were found hundreds of miles away in Washington state, in a vehicle driven by one of the adult “wives.” Bateman also admitted his involvement in the kidnapping plot.
Federal prosecutors noted that Bateman’s plea agreement was contingent on all of his co-defendants also pleading guilty. It also called for restitution of as much as $1 million per victim, and for all assets to be immediately forfeited.
Seven of Bateman’s adult “wives” have been convicted of crimes related to coercing children into sexual activity or impeding the investigation into Bateman. Some acknowledged they also coerced girls to become Bateman’s spiritual “wives,” witnessed Bateman having criminal sexual activity with girls, participated in illicit group sex involving children, or joined in kidnapping them from foster care. Another woman is scheduled to be tried Jan. 14 on charges related to the kidnappings.
Two Colorado City brothers also face 10 years to life at their sentencings, on Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, after being convicted in October of charges including interstate travel to persuade or coerce a child to engage in sexual activity. Authorities say one bought Bateman two Bentley automobiles, while the other bought him a Range Rover.
In court records, lawyers for some of Bateman’s “wives” painted a bleak picture of their clients’ religious upbringings.
One said his client was raised in a religious cult that taught sexual activity with children was acceptable and that she was duped into “marrying” Bateman. Another said her client was given to Bateman by another man as if she were a piece of property, feeling she had no choice, and was manipulated by Bateman into doing things she wouldn’t otherwise do.
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Luigi Mangione, person of interest in United Healthcare CEO’s killing, charged with firearms violation and forgery in Altoona
ALTOONA, Pa. (KDKA) — Luigi Mangione, the man being questioned in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was arraigned on several unrelated charges after he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
According to court documents, Mangione is charged with forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and false identification to law enforcement authorities after police in Altoona said they were called to a McDonald’s around 9 a.m. for reports of a person matching the description of the possible suspect in Thompson’s shooting.
Court documents describe moment police recognized Mangione
According to court paperwork, when Altoona officers got to the McDonald’s on East Plank Road, they found the man wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop at a table in the back of the restaurant. After asking him to pull down his mask, officers in court documents wrote that they “immediately recognized” him from photos New York police had released.
When they asked for ID, police said he gave them a New Jersey driver’s license. Officers said he “became quiet and started to shake” after they asked him if he’d been to New York recently.
Investigators said they couldn’t find any information with the ID the man had given him. Officers told him that if he lied about his identity, he’d get arrested. That’s when police said he gave them his birthday and told them his name was Luigi Mangione.
When asked why he lied about his identity, Mangione replied, “I clearly shouldn’t have.”
Here’s what police found in Mangione’s backpack
Police said they arrested Mangione and took him back to the Altoona station, where a search of his backpack turned up a 3D-printed pistol and silencer.
“The pistol had a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel,” police wrote in court paperwork. “The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round. The silencer was also 3D printed.”
Police question Mangione in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s death
In their search, police said they also found a three-page handwritten document.
“That document is currently in the possession of the Altoona Police Department as part of their investigation, but just from briefly speaking with them, we don’t think that there’s any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America,” said New York Police Department chief of detectives Joseph Kenny.
The NYPD could be seen outside the Altoona Police Department on Monday. Police are questioning Mangione in connection with Thompson’s death.
“At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “The suspect was in a McDonald’s and then recognized by an employee who then called police. Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs as well as a U.S. passport.”
Police in Altoona, which is about 2 hours from Pittsburgh, said they’re cooperating with local, state and federal agencies.
Magnione was ordered to be held without bail, the Associated Press reported.