Prosecutors widened their case against members of a small polygamous group that resides near the Utah-Arizona border. MORE ⬇️
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Prosecutors have widened their case against members of a small polygamous group that resides near the Utah-Arizona border, detailing its leader's sexual encounters with children he took as wives in new charges filed earlier this month.
The FLDS is itself a breakaway sect of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The sect is known because its leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving a life sentence in federal prison in Texas. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, which is widely known as the Mormon church, but it abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
It says Bateman travelled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and allegedly had sex with the minor girls on a regular basis. It also charges Bateman with the production of child pornography, alleging some of the sexual activity was transmitted across state lines via electronic devices. It does not specify if the encounters were recorded or took place over video or texting.
The indictment also alleges Bateman"encouraged the minors to participate in the sexual activity and trained them to do so," including with girls so young that he once became upset when one wet the bed. He told girls 10 and younger,"You belong to me," and one who the indictment describes as nine or 10 years old described the sexual encounters as"definitely terrifying."
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