Accused polygamous ‘cult’ leader Samuel Bateman’s next indictment could name ‘additional defendants,’ feds say
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Accused polygamous “cult” leader Samuel Bateman’s next indictment will include new charges against him—and may feature additional co-defendants, prosecutors revealed in a filing on Tuesday.
“The United States anticipates a superseding indictment within the next 90 days, which would include additional charges, and could include additional defendants,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitra H. Sampson wrote in a filing seeking to push any potential trial back another year.
Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet and a leader in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has been charged in a federal indictment since September 2022, when prosecutors accused the Arizona man attempting to obstruct justice. The case has expanded dramatically in the ensuing months.
Content retrieved from: https://lawandcrime.com/crime/accused-polygamous-cult-leader-samuel-batemans-next-indictment-could-name-additional-defendants-feds-say/.
Many polygamist leaders believed they were above the law. But claiming to be a “prophet” is not a criminal defense when it comes to charges of child and sexual abuse.