The United States Federal Investigative Service (FBI) has revealed the details of the case of a person who claimed the prophecy, who took 20 wives, including minors, claiming it was “God’s will” to force his followers to do so. .
According to the Washington Post, Samuel Rabelley Bateman, leader of a branch of the fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Church of Jesus Christ, counted his daughter and other minors among more than 20 wives, most of whom were under 15, the L’ FBI agent wrote in a court document filed on Friday.
Bateman’s alleged foray into polygamy began in 2019 when he was married to a woman and they had an approximately 14-year-old daughter. While driving one day, Bateman told her that she felt like she was married to her and that he would give her a baby if her feelings turned out to be true, she told subsequent investigators.
When Bateman told his real wife this, she walked out of the house with her daughter and got a restraining order against him, but he kept telling the girl the same thing, and has been collecting wives ever since.
Pittman, 46, is currently being held in federal prison in Arizona on obstruction of justice charges after he asked his followers to delete the Signal app he used to communicate with them and his wives, and said he not be guilty of this or more charges. of violations of children’s rights.
Pittman has not been charged with a sexual offense, although the FBI said there could be probable grounds to believe he engaged in criminal sexual activity with minors in 2020 and 2021. His attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
