Rappylee Bateman News Today

A child’s hand, dangling from the rear of a box-trailer on I-40, prompted a routine traffic stop by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers last year. Little did officers know

A federal grand jury last week issued a superseding indictment against 47-year-old Samuel Bateman.

Samuel Rappylee Bateman of Colorado City, Arizona, was already facing a trial for kidnapping and evidence tampering in an investigation into his community.

The indictment of Josephine Barlow Bistline marks the fourth woman associated with self-declared prophet Samuel Bateman to face federal charges. Three of Bateman’s wives were previously charged with kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution after eight girls associated with the sect fled from foster care.

COLORADO CITY, Arizona (KSL.com) — A polygamous leader from Colorado City currently facing federal charges for the alleged kidnaping of eight underage girls will have his communications restricted while in custody after being accused of not only trying to obstruct justice while using jail phones, but was also engaging in sexually explicit conversations with underage […]

Samuel Bateman, an Arizona polygamous sect leader charged with kidnapping and evidence tampering, will not go to trial until 2024.

The trial for an an alleged polygamist in Arizona, over kidnapping and tampering with evidence charges, was pushed back to March to allow his attorney more time to prepare.

Samuel Rappylee Bateman pleaded not guilty this week to federal kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He was first jailed in August. Authorities found three underage girls locked inside a trailer.

Sam Bateman’s case is the most recent example of law enforcement taking action against abuse in the sister cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah of FLDS.

The leader of a small polygamous group on the Arizona-Utah border helped orchestrate the escape of eight girls he considered his "wives" from foster care, prosecutors alleged.