Ariz. polygamist leader allegedly had 20 wives, including 9-year-old, and wanted to marry daughter

SPOKANE, Wash. (TCD) -- Several underage wives of a fundamentalist leader currently in custody in Arizona were reportedly found in an Airbnb in Washington after they escaped a group home.

According to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, on Thursday, Dec. 1, a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy knocked on the door of a local Airbnb and reportedly found Moretta Rose Johnson and eight underage girls, all of whom allegedly ran away from group homes in Arizona. Johnson was arrested on federal charges of obstruction of justice and kidnapping.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the current whereabouts of the eight girls is not known. They were previously in the care of the Arizona Department of Child Safety and were staying around Phoenix before they escaped to Spokane.

The group’s alleged leader, Samuel Bateman, was arrested in September and charged with destruction of records or an attempt to destroy records, tampering or attempting to tamper with an official proceeding, and destruction of records in a federal investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona says Bateman allegedly "destroyed or attempted to destroy records, by deleting or aiding and abetting others to delete, electronic communications associated with Signal accounts."

According to The Associated Press, in September, Bateman was stopped near the Arizona-Utah state line and found hauling girls between 11 and 14 years old in a trailer. The trailer reportedly included a couch and a toilet that was actually just a bucket with a trash bag and toilet seat cover, AZFamily.com reports. The trailer reportedly did not have any ventilation.

He was charged with child abuse and pleaded not guilty.

Bateman reportedly used to be a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but then started his own polygamist community.

FBI Special Agent Dawn Martin filed a probable cause affidavit in federal court Friday, Dec. 2, stating there is cause to believe Bateman and his followers "have engaged in the transportation of minors in interstate commerce to engage in criminal sexual activity, and travel in interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors, between May 2020 and November 2021, between Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Nebraska."

According to the affidavit cited by The Salt Lake Tribune, Bateman declared himself a "prophet" in 2019. With that, he reportedly developed "approximately 50 followers and more than 20 wives, many of whom are minors, mostly under the age of 15."

Around the same time, Bateman allegedly said he wanted his teenage daughter to also become his wife. Many of Bateman’s wives consisted of his male followers' own spouses and daughters.

Johnson, who was arrested in Spokane, reportedly wed Bateman when she was underage and had his child a few months after turning 18.

The affidavit reportedly says that in late 2020, Bateman introduced a girl born in 2011 as his wife.

Bateman is reportedly in custody and being held without bail.

MORE:

• Polygamous group leader allegedly caught hauling young girls in enclosed trailer, 9/16/2022 - TCD
• 8 girls believed to be underage wives of Mormon fundamentalist found hiding in Spokane; woman faces kidnapping charge - The Spokesman-Review
• Polygamous leader Samuel Bateman had 20 wives, according to FBI - The Salt Lake Tribune
• Officials took girls from a historically polygamous community on the Utah-Arizona border. Then the girls went missing. - The Salt Lake Tribune
• New documents describe girls found in ex-FLDS leader’s trailer in Flagstaff, 9/15/2022 - AZFamily.com
• Arizona man charged after girls found in enclosed trailer, 9/15/2022 - The Associated Press
• Colorado City Man Arrested on Federal Obstruction of Justice Charges, 9/15/2022 - U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona