Arizona religious cult member gets life for child sex crimes
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A member of a religious cult was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a child abuse and exploitation ring led by a self-proclaimed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
La Dell Bistline, 45, was found guilty in 2024 of engaging in multiple crimes, including receiving child pornography, transferring obscene material to a minor, and transporting minors for sexual activity, as a follower of Samuel Bateman, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison for conspiracy to transport minors for sex and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Bistline and his brother, also a follower of Bateman, were arrested in May 2023.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich addressed Bistline before imposing her sentence.
“I said that Samuel Bateman is a monster, but you are the one that fed the monster with the lives of women and children, and a life sentence is the only just sentence,” she said.
Content retrieved from: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2025/02/19/arizona-religious-cult-member-gets-life-for-child-sex-crimes/79231244007/.
