Trust Me: The False Prophet - Where is Samuel Bateman now? Details about the self-proclaimed cult leader, revealed 

Trust Me: The False Prophet is Netflix's latest true-crime four-part docuseries that revisits the crimes of Samual Bateman, the self-proclaimed cult leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) in Short Creek on the Utah-Arizona border, who took more than 20 spiritual 'wives' under the guise of a vile human trafficking ring.

The official synopsis for the docuseries reads as follows:

''A cult expert and her videographer husband embed themselves in a vulnerable FLDS community in Utah, where they discover disturbing evidence about Samuel Bateman, who claims to be the successor to imprisoned prophet Warren Jeffs.''

Trust Me: The False Prophet explores the efforts of documentary maker & psychology graduate Christine Marie and her husband Tolga Katas, who moved to Bateman's town in 2016 to expose him. However, after Marie's proofs were deemed unfit in court, she motivated an underage victim to testify against Samuel Bateman, which led to his eventual arrest.

Samual Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison in December 2024 and is currently behind bars.

More on this in our story.

Trust Me: The False Prophet: Exploring Samuel Bateman's crimes

A new four-part docuseries titled Trust Me: The False Prophet is shining a spotlight on the crimes of Samuel Bateman, the self-proclaimed cult leader who committed heinous crimes against women, making underage girls his spiritual 'wives', manipulating them into bearing his children, all in the name of religion. After FLDS leader Warren Jeffs' arrest (on account of s*xual assault against girls), the community went adrift, until Bateman rose from the shadows and claimed himself as a prophet, who secretly ran a vile human trafficking ring.

According to multiple FBI affidavits and as shown in Netflix's Trust Me: The False Prophet, Samuel Bateman began taking daughters and wives from his adult male followers, making them his 'spiritual' wives, some of whom were as young as 9 years old. These child brides were forced to participate in s*xual activities individually or with a group of other victims. Samuel Bateman even live-streamed a video of s*xual abuse for his followers, claiming he ‘receiving a message from the Heavenly Father’.

Things took a turn in 2022 when the court asked Marie to get an underage to confess against Samuel Bateman. Thankfully, one of the victims Julie came forward and revealed how Bateman manipulated his wives into working and took all profits, all in the name of religion. In Netflix's Trust Me: The False Prophet, Julie reveals:

“I just want to get back to my God and my true religion. I thought ‘This man cannot go on and keep hurting people’.”

Trust Me: The False Prophet: Exploring Samuel Bateman's current whereabouts

Thanks to Julie's brave testimony and Marie's prompt efforts to help the FBI with providing necessary recordings and evidence, Samuel Bateman was arrested on 28 August 2022, while he was driving with a group of women and girls in a truck, likely transporting them as part of his human trafficking ring.

In December 2024, after Samuel Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison after accepting a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to commit kidnapping (which can lead to life imprisonment) and conspiracy to transport a minor for sexual activity (which can lead to 10 years in prison). Samuel Bateman was eventually sentenced to 50 years in prison for each crime (to run simultaneously), followed by lifetime supervised release.

As revealed in Trust Me: The False Prophet, Samuel Bateman is currently behind bars and paying the price for his sins. While many local news outlets reported that he was initially kept in a facility in Florence, Arizona, his current prison facility has not been publicly released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), for security reasons. Even after Marie and Tolga's successful attempts to prove the extent of Samuel Bateman's crimes, many of his male followers continue to worship him.

In an interview with Netflix's Tudum, Trust Me: The False Prophet director Rachel Dretzin revealed how Samuel Bateman continues to hold power over his followers even from prison:

“For whatever reason, the prison he’s in allows him to make as many calls as he wants. So he is in daily contact with his wives, which in some ways allows him to still have too much power because he’s now been ‘martyred.’ ”

Trust Me: The False Prophet is streaming on Netflix.

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