NEW Now you can listen to Fox News articles! A self-styled prophet who claimed over 20 “spiritual wives,” some underage, was unmasked after a couple infiltrated his inner circle and covertly recorded his activities for authorities. The chilling account of Christine Marie and her husband Tolga Katas’s undercover mission unfolds in the Netflix docuseries “Trust Me: The False Prophet.” It includes behind-the-scenes footage of the couple subsequently collaborating with law enforcement as informants. Their efforts aided in uncovering Samuel Bateman’s child sexual abuse network and played a role in the 2022 raid that resulted in his arrest, as well as that of several followers. Authorities state that Bateman sought to establish an FLDS offshoot in the nearby towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, according to The Associated Press. The fundamentalist faction broke away from the main Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following the Mormons’ official renunciation of polygamy in 1890. POLYGAMIST CULT LEADER’S DAUGHTER ESCAPES, CLAIMS FALSE PROPHET ABUSED HER: ‘THE WORLD COULD SEE THE SHAME’. Bateman proclaimed himself the successor to Warren Jeffs, the self-styled prophet who arranged marriages for his followers—including underage girls—and had up to 80 “spiritual wives.” Jeffs was found guilty in Texas in 2011 of sexually assaulting underage followers and received a life sentence in prison. While incarcerated, he instructed his followers to stop marrying or procreating, then grew increasingly withdrawn, allowing Bateman to position himself as his successor. “I was shocked by so many aspects of Christine and Tolga’s ordeal,” Emmy-winning director Rachel Dretzin shared with Fox News Digital. “Above all, their ability to infiltrate the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)—one of the world’s most secretive communities—is astounding and rare.” It was very surprising that they had earned Sam Bateman’s trust, allowing them such deep access into the highly private world he had built.
