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Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet in the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), is the focus of Netflix’s disturbing new documentary series Trust Me: The False Prophet.
The FLDS entered the public consciousness in 2022 with the release of Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, which examined the rise of its leader Warren Jeffs, who used his position to enforce strict rules, arrange underage marriages, and sexually abuse girls and women.
After Jeffs’ imprisonment in 2011, cult psychology expert Christine Marie and her videographer husband Tolga Katas moved to Short Creek, Utah, to document and support the community left behind in its wake.
However, soon enough, they discovered a new figure claiming to be Jeffs’ successor. Bateman positioned himself as a prophet, exploiting the same structures of control and belief to lead a child sexual abuse ring. Warning: some may find this content distressing.
Where is Samuel Bateman now?
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According to prison records, Samuel Bateman is now 50 years old and is being kept at FCI Tucson, a medium-security US federal prison for male inmates located in Arizona. His release date is currently set for May 5, 2065, although this could change.
As is revealed in the true crime docu-series, Bateman represented himself as a religious prophet, falsely claiming that Jeffs had died in prison and had passed the torch to him. In 2019, he began amassing followers in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska, reaching 20 wives at his peak.
Bateman also accumulated a series of male accomplices who already had status within the FLDS, including Torrance Bistline, Ladell Bistline Jr., and Moroni Johnson. In 2020 and 2021, they began giving him their daughters, many of whom were underage.
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“By the time we met Moroni, he had already given all his daughters to Sam,” says Marie, before a disturbing recording of Moroni is played in which he says, “What he chooses to do with them is his business.”
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The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona stated that some of the victims were as young as nine years old, with Bateman using coercive and manipulative tactics to force them to participate in individual and group sexual activities with adults and other children.
He would also give his victims to his adult male followers and live streamed a case of child sexual abuse for them, while also transporting minors between states to facilitate the crimes, which continued until Bateman’s arrest in September 2022.
Even after his arrest, his reign of terror didn’t stop there, as Marie herself says in the Netflix documentary. His followers had been brainwashed, many of them since birth, and so they truly believed he was the prophet.
“Groupthink is so powerful,” Marie says. “It’s like superglue. You can’t just wake up when you’re getting your thoughts reinforced by other people you respect and love.”
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In November 2022, while still in police custody, Bateman conspired with a number of his followers and successfully orchestrated a kidnapping plot in which eight of the minors were taken from state custody.
The authorities were able to recover the minors in Spokane, Washington, who were then all placed in separate foster care.
Eventually, Bateman pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and in December 2024, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
FBI Phoenix special agent in charge, Jose A. Perez, said at the time, “Every child should feel and be safe in their homes.
“Today’s sentencing brings some closure to the victims with hopes they can confidently continue the long road to living normal lives with trusted and loving adults surrounding them.”
What happened to the survivors?
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Thankfully, all of the minors who were victimized by Bateman and his followers have broken free after they were separated. It’s more complex for the female adults, although three have made it out: Julia Johnson, Moretta Johnson, and Naomi “Nomz” Bistline.
As said by Rachel Dretzin, the filmmaker behind Trust Me: The False Prophet, “All the minors have come out [against Bateman], and the reason for that is very simple: they were all removed from the community and from their other sister wives and put into foster care.
“Once they had the perspective of being outside the group, they were able to see what had happened to them and speak out.”
When it comes to the adults, Dretzin told Netflix, “The vast majority of the adults featured in this film are still followers of Sam Bateman to this day. All of the minors have finally separated from Sam and ‘woken up,’ as we call it, but in many cases, their parents have not.”
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The same can’t be said for Julia, however, who was previously married to Moroni Johnson. She was instrumental in Bateman’s capture, having secretly met with Marie to testify against the false prophet despite intense personal risk.
She has since broken free from the FLDS, as has Moretta Johnson, one of her daughters. Nomz, who appears in the docu-series, had been brought into the sect by her guardian, LaDell Jay Bistline, after 10 years in his care.
Although both Moretta and Nomz were loyal followers of Bateman, they eventually realized the truth and became the only two of his adult followers to testify against him in court. The pair were arrested for their role in the kidnapping, but their time behind bars proved beneficial.
Julia explains, “Moretta had spent a year in prison. Her words are, ‘Prison set me free.’ It helped her get into a thought process of her own.”
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Nomz adds, “Prison was the best and worst thing that happened to me. It forced me to start thinking for myself. It forced me to start questioning things.”
Since her release, Moretta has left the community, gotten married, and started a family. While Nomz is yet to leave Short Creek, she hopes to soon and has cut ties with the FLDS.
For those still stuck under the spell of Bateman, it’s tricky to break free, especially as he still has contact with them from behind bars and is allowed to make phone and video calls.
“He is in daily contact with his wives, which in some ways allows him to have even more control over them because he’s now been ‘martyred,’” says Dretzin.
Marie adds, “Once they break from him and from the other people who believe in him, then they can say, ‘Wait, maybe I’m not so certain. Maybe he did make all this up so that he could get money, power, and sex – like every other cult leader.’”
Where are Torrance Bistline, Ladell Bistline Jr., and Moroni Johnson?
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A total of 11 individuals were arrested as part of the case, while Bateman’s three right-hand men were sentenced to prison, with LaDell and his brother Torrance Bistline getting 35 years and life, respectively, and Moroni Johnson getting 25 years.
The Bistline brothers and Moroni were among Bateman’s closest accomplices, facilitating, enabling, and enacting child sexual abuse. Ladell Bistline Jr. received the longest sentence, having been found guilty by a jury for a long list of crimes.
They included charges of receiving child pornography, transferring obscene material to a minor, persuading or coercing travel to engage in sexual activity, using interstate commerce to persuade or coerce a minor to engage in sexual activity, and transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity.
Among his many crimes, court documents showed that he delivered his nine and 11 year old daughters to Bateman to become child brides and be sexually abused by him. LaDell was sentenced in February 2025, two months before his brother’s verdict.
Torrance Bistline’s charges included using interstate commerce to persuade or coerce a minor to engage in sexual activity, as well as destruction of records and tampering with an official proceeding.
He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, and like Bateman, if he’s released he’ll be supervised for the rest of his life. Finally, Moroni Johnson pled guilty in May 2025 to conspiring to transport a minor for sexual activity, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Trust Me: The False Prophet is streaming on Netflix now. For more documentary news, read about the Skylar Neese case, how to watch Storyville: The Darkest Web, and who HSTikkyTokky’s father is.
