Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, had 20 wives, many of whom were under the age of 15, according to an FBI investigation. Bateman drank wine and had sex with a male follower, Moroni Johnson, in a motel room in Lincoln, Nebraska, in front of his underage wives, new court documents show, some of whom were Johnson’s own daughters. The FBI said the women and girls were required to stand naked and watch the “binding of brothers.” Bateman also forced his wives to have sex with other male followers, the documents say. He maintained that he was acting under instructions from “Heavenly Father,” and told the girls that had “sacrificed their virtue for the Lord.” Eight underage girls said to be Bateman’s wives were found at a Spokane Air BnB last Thursday, according to the Spokesman-Review. They had previously run away from children’s homes in Arizona where they were placed following Bateman’s arrest in August on charges of child endangerment.
