Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 48, led a small polygamous religious group that split off from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). He was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison after being convicted of forcing girls as young as 9 to participate in sexual acts with him and other adult members of his group, according to AP News.

Bateman ran his group from Colorado City, a town that sits on the border between Utah and Arizona. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to illegally moving underage girls across state lines for sexual abuse and to kidnapping some of them from other states. A federal judge approved the 50-year sentence based on these crimes, per a DOJ announcement. Because Bateman moved victims across state borders, federal law enforcement gained jurisdiction to prosecute him.

Bateman also faced three separate charges in September 2022 for destroying evidence and interfering with the police investigation.

Colorado City has been monitored by federal and state authorities for decades because of its history with polygamous religious groups. The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church) officially prohibited polygamy in 1890 and has no connection to the FLDS or groups like Bateman's. The FLDS itself splintered into many smaller sects after its former leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison in 2011. These smaller groups operate with little outside oversight.

These types of cases follow a familiar pattern. A male leader claims religious authority and controls a closed community tightly. Victims and their families are all part of the same religious group, which makes it harder for them to report abuse or talk to police—speaking out could mean losing their family, home, and entire community.

A 50-year sentence for someone who is 48 years old means they will likely spend the rest of their life in prison. This sentence length reflects how severe and long-lasting Bateman's crimes were. What stands out about this case is that federal prosecutors went after a splinter-group leader, not just leaders of the main FLDS organization. As these polygamous communities have broken apart into smaller and smaller groups, targeting individual sect leaders has become an important way for law enforcement to intervene.