PHOENIX — A businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with the leader of a polygamous cult near the Arizona-Utah border to transport underage girls across state lines. This makes him the first man convicted of what authorities say was a plan to orchestrate sex acts involving children. .
Moroni Johnson, who faces a prison sentence of 10 years to life, acknowledged participating in a scheme to transport four girls under the age of 18 for sexual activity. Authorities say the conspiracy between Johnson, 53, and the cult’s leader, self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman, took place over a three-year period ending in September 2022.
Authorities say Bateman created a vast network spanning at least four states when he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was historically based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale. , Utah. He and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly forbids it. Bateman and his followers believe that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
The FBI said Bateman had taken more than 20 women, including 10 girls under the age of 18. Bateman is accused of gifting women to his male followers, claiming he did so on the orders of the “Heavenly Father.” Investigators say Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and regularly had sex with underage girls. Some of the sexual activity involving Bateman was recorded and transmitted across state lines via electronic devices.
The FBI said Bateman demanded that his followers publicly confess to any indiscretions and that he shared these confessions widely. He claimed the punishments, which ranged from time out to public shaming and sexual activity, came from the Lord, the federal law enforcement agency said. Authorities said Johnson was pressured by Bateman to give up three of his wives as atonement because Johnson did not treat Bateman as a prophet.
Bateman was arrested by state police in Flagstaff in August 2022 after someone noticed small fingers in a doorway of an enclosed trailer. Authorities found three girls – aged between 11 and 14 – in the caravan, which had a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs and no ventilation.
Bateman posted bond, but he was arrested again the following month and charged with obstruction of justice in a federal investigation into whether children were transported across state lines for sexual activity.
At the time of the second arrest, authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s Colorado City home and placed them in foster care. Eight of the children later escaped from foster homes. The FBI alleged that three of Bateman’s adult women played a role in taking them from Arizona. The girls were later found hundreds of miles away in Washington state in a vehicle driven by one of the adult women.
Bateman has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, including conspiracy to transport a minor for sexual activity, conspiracy to tamper with an official proceeding and conspiracy to kidnap the girls who joined the child welfare agency of the state were placed. Myles Schneider, an attorney representing Bateman, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on his client’s behalf.
Bateman was sentenced to prison until his trial, now scheduled for September 10, is completed.
Earlier this year, four adult women from Bateman each pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to tamper with an official proceeding, admitting that they had witnessed Bateman engaging in sexual acts with his child brides and that they had also participated in the plot to kidnap the eight. girls from state prison.
Charges are also pending against four other women, identified as Bateman’s wives, and two of his male followers, both accused of using an interstate commerce device to persuade or coerce a minor to engage in sexual activity. The four women and two men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.