US polygamous leader, who has 20 spiritual 'wives', gets prison sentence for criminal sex acts with children

A polygamist religious leader in the United States was given 50 years of imprisonment on Monday (Dec. 9) after he was found guilty of coercing girls, who were as young as 9 years old, into criminal sexual acts.

The leader, who claimed to have more than 20 spiritual 'wives', made schemes to kidnap children from protective custody and forced them to perform sex acts with him as well as other adults.

Samuel Bateman, who was leading a group that was an offshoot of the sect that was once headed by Warren Jeffs, pleaded guilty to making schemes for transporting girls and pushing them into sex crimes and also kidnapping some from protective custody.

As per the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring the transportation of a minor for sexual activity and one count of conspiring the kidnapping of the girls.

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The crime of transporting children carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and kidnapping also has the punishment of life imprisonment.

The court sentenced Bateman to 50 years on each count, which he needs to serve concurrently. As part of the agreement, the court dismissed the rest of the charges.

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As per the authorities, 48-year-old Bateman made an effort to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), which is situated in the neighbouring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

The fundamentalist group had split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after polygamy was officially abandoned by its members in 1890.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced the leader after hearing statements from three teenage girls regarding the trauma that they are struggling to overcome.

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"You should not have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women," Brnovich said to Batemanand added that the 50-year sentence is equal to a life sentence for a nearly 49-year-old man.

"You took them from their homes, from their families, and made them into sex slaves. You stripped them of their innocence and childhood," said the judge.

After the court pronounced the sentence, the girls accompanying the women hugged them and wept.

(With inputs from agencies)