Polygamous sect leader convicted of trafficking minors for sex abuse

Samuel Bateman, 48, led a fundamentalist splinter group that broke from the FLDS. Federal Judge Susan M. Brnovich convicted him of coercing girls as young as 9 into sexual acts and sentenced him to 50 years. Bateman pleaded guilty to transporting underage girls across state lines for sex crimes—a scheme operating for years from Colorado City, Arizona.