Polygamous group leader had 20 wives, many of them under-age, FBI says

He was supported financially by male followers who also gave up their own wives and children to be Bateman’s wives, according to the FBI.

Samuel Bateman, who faces state child abuse charges, and federal charges of tampering with evidence (Coconino County Sheriff’s Department via AP)

The leader of small polygamous group near the Arizona-Utah border had taken at least 20 wives, most of them under-age, and punished followers who did not treat him as a prophet, court documents have claimed.

Samuel Bateman, 46, was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) until he left to start his own small offshoot group.