Self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ with underage ‘wives’ exposed after couple he trusted helped uncover abuse ring
A self-proclaimed prophet with more than 20 "spiritual wives," including underage girls, was exposed after a couple gained his trust and secretly documented his world for investigators.
The harrowing story behind Christine Marie and her husband Tolga Katas’ operation is now being told in the Netflix docuseries "Trust Me: The False Prophet." It features behind-the-scenes footage of the couple later working with law enforcement as informants. Their efforts helped expose Samuel Bateman’s child sexual abuse ring and contributed to the 2022 raid that led to his arrest, along with several of his followers.
Authorities say that Bateman tried to start an offshoot of the FLDS based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, The Associated Press reported. The fundamentalist group split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially abandoned polygamy in 1890.
Bateman declared himself the successor to self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs, who arranged marriages for followers, including underage girls, and had as many as 80 "spiritual wives." Jeffs was convicted in Texas in 2011 of sexually assaulting underage followers and sentenced to life in prison.
Behind bars, Jeffs ordered his followers to no longer marry or have children and later became increasingly silent, paving the way for Bateman to assert himself as his heir.
"There were so many things that surprised me about Christine and Tolga’s experience," Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Rachel Dretzin told Fox News Digital.
"First of all, the fact that they were able to gain access to the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), which is one of the most closed communities in the world, is astonishing and very unusual. The fact that they had managed to gain the trust of Sam Bateman, who allowed them so deeply into the world — the very private world he had created — was very surprising."
Christine Marie, a cult expert, was raised in the Mormon faith. The 65-year-old said she survived an abusive marriage with a man who considered himself a prophet, People magazine reported. She and Katas moved to Short Creek in 2016.
The Nevada couple, who met Bateman in 2017, filmed him and members of his group, including his so-called "wives," from 2019 through his 2022 arrest. Eleven of Bateman’s adult followers have also been convicted of charges related to a child sexual abuse conspiracy.
Bateman was intrigued, eager for recognition. He opened his doors to the couple, granting them access to film his home, gatherings and interactions with his followers.
"Sam is a megalomaniac who really enjoys the attention," Dretzin explained. "He craves it, and couldn’t resist the idea that there were these outsiders with cameras who were so interested in what he was doing. I also think Christine has an incredible, uncanny ability to build trust with people, give them the sense that she appreciates what they’re doing, even if she doesn’t."
"She was a very good actress," Dretzin said. "And I think many of Sam’s wives also craved a female presence that was an outsider because, whether they knew it or not, they were in a terrible position."
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"People are born into the FLDS," Dretzin explained. "They don’t join it. So, they have no other life experiences. And they’re trained from birth to believe that the prophet speaks directly with God and to obey whatever the prophet tells them to do."
Bateman attended Jeffs’ 2007 trial as a supporter. Dretzin said the connection gave him legitimacy among followers.
"I also think [Bateman] preyed on vulnerable people, women who had been raised from birth to believe that their only value in life was to have children and who had been forbidden to have children," said Dretzin.
"When Sam said that Warren was giving them permission through him, they were hungry and vulnerable. They believed him."
Federal investigators said Bateman coerced underage girls into sexual acts with himself and others and arranged for some victims to be abused by other adult followers. They noted that Bateman and others transported the victims between states to facilitate the sexual abuse, which continued until his arrest.
An affidavit filed in federal court alleged that Bateman conducted video calls in which participants were nude and engaged in sexual acts. According to court filings, Bateman also described a so-called "Binding of Brothers" ritual involving sexual acts with followers’ wives.
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Julia Johnson, the wife of Moroni Johnson, an early follower of Bateman’s, began secretly meeting with Christine Marie in July 2022, sharing firsthand accounts of Bateman’s crimes.
Christine Marie learned that Moroni urged his wife to give several of their daughters, including two who were underage, to Bateman as wives. Johnson recalled telling her husband, "We’re following a false prophet, and he’s leading us right to hell, and I’m not going to go there anymore."
"[Julia] was questioning from the beginning," said Dretzin. "But again, these women are taught from birth that they have to obey their husbands and their prophet. And so, Julia was in a very difficult position. But you see in the footage Julia finds her voice, which is an incredibly profound experience as a viewer."
Christine Marie and Katas quietly gathered evidence as Bateman grew more comfortable around them and let his guard down. He regularly invited them to dinner in his home, where up to 22 women occupied a single bedroom, People reported.
"Sam truly thought he could get away with anything he wanted, and the sky was the limit," said Dretzin. "And the grandiosity of his imagination is somewhat breathtaking. He honestly believed that the Queen of England would see the footage of him and his wives and want to join his tribe.
"How do I explain it? I think he was a narcissist who was in a closed system in which everybody around him was kowtowing to him and, whether they wanted to or not, making him feel like he was the king. And that goes to your head. And he lost all limits."
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"Sam, behind closed doors, from what I understand, was harsher with his wives than what you see when the cameras are on," she said. "Sam knew enough to exert that and use that to control his women."
Warren Levi, the son of Moroni and Julia Johnson, held a secret meeting with Christine Marie and Katas, as shown in the documentary. He tells them: "Starting in 2019, Sam married seven of my sisters, ranging in age from 20ish, down to nine years old. ... Every one of them referred to him as the devil.’"
Prosecutors said victims were transported across state lines, including in cramped conditions, to facilitate the abuse. According to an FBI affidavit, Bateman drove two Bentleys while pushing failed business ventures in real estate and coaching services.
Bateman’s grip on power began to unravel after Christine Marie and Katas provided key evidence that contributed to a broader federal investigation.
In 2024, Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison for coercing girls as young as nine years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody, The Associated Press reported.
According to the outlet, he had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.
The documentary also revealed that Moroni pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit trafficking of a minor for sexual purposes and was later sentenced to 25 years in prison. Moroni and Johnson are no longer together.
Some of Bateman’s wives no longer associate with him, while others remain in touch.
"Being behind bars, in some ways, turns them into martyrs," she said. "There’s a whole religious belief system around the prophet being punished by the law … and it can reinforce their power."
"[But] Warren has, in recent years, been very erratic in his contact with his followers," said Dretzin. "I know he’s in touch with his family, which is an enormous number of people because he had 78 wives and hundreds of children. But sometimes he disappears for long stretches of time. … But many people still believe that what Warren Jeffs says is coming directly from God and must be followed to the letter."
Leaving the FLDS isn’t just difficult — it means going against everything you’ve ever known.
"I can’t think of another situation like a cult that you’re into where you truly believe God knows everything that you’re doing and the prophet knows everything that you’re doing," she said.
"Even if you have negative thoughts, they’re going to know. And leaving that culture, standing up against that culture, going to the media, which is seen as the absolute worst thing you can do, it takes so much strength, so much courage, so much independence of thought."