A Predator in Prophet's Clothing

Published December 17, 2024 at 2:54 PM MST

When Warren Jeffs, the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was arrested in 2006 and later imprisoned, a power vacuum emerged in the polygamous sect. In time, a man named Samuel Bateman stepped up and declared himself the new prophet. He and his followers proceeded to exploit the needs of the faithful in order to satisfy their own deviant sexual desires.

As prophet, Bateman took 10 young girls as his so-called spiritual wives, and he sexually abused nearly all of them. Photo journalist Trent Nelson has been following the story for years, and he was there with his camera when FBI agents arrested Bateman on charges of child abuse. A federal judge sentenced Bateman last week to 50 years in prison. Nelson is among our guests as we tell the dramatic story of Bateman’s rise and fall, and explore what it tells us about the current state of the FLDS Church and its future.

GUESTS –

Lindsay Hansen Park | Executive director for the Sunstone Education Foundation and host of the podcast “The Year of Polygamy”

Jessica Schreifels | Investigative reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune and co-author of the articles: The undercover effort to stop Samuel Bateman, a two-part series. You can read them here: Part One | Part Two

Trent Nelson | Lead Visual Journalist for The Salt Lake Tribune. He is the co-author of the articles: The undercover effort to stop Samuel Bateman, a two-part series. You can read them here: Part One | Part Two

Airdate: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2023, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.