Jury begins deliberations in FLDS sex abuse case 

PHOENIX (CN) — The fate of two Arizona men accused of aiding and participating in a polygamous child sex abuse ring now lies in the hands of 12 jurors.

Across 12 days of trial, federal prosecutors presented testimony from 10 women and girls who were minors as young as nine when they were married to and raped by a 45-year-old man — who, prosecutors hammered home on the 13th day of trial, couldn’t have done so without the help of defendants Torrance Bistline and LaDell Bistline Jr.

“Samuel Bateman couldn’t rape children on his own,” prosecutor Dimitra Sampson told the jury Tuesday morning. “LaDell Bistline had the girls and women. Torrance Bistline had the money.”

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday afternoon, and the defense did not put on any witnesses.

Facing up to life in prison, the two defendants can do nothing but await the jury’s verdict.

Both men are followers of Samuel Rappylee Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a disavowed offshoot of the Mormon Church that still practices polygamy and child marriage. Nearly 10 years after the arrest of former FLDS leader Warren Jeffs left a power vacuum in the community, Bateman announced himself as the new prophet and amassed at least two dozen wives between 2019 and his eventual arrest in 2022.

In her closing argument, Sampson recapped testimony from two of LaDell Bistline Jr.’s daughters and several of Bateman’s other child brides that Bistline Jr. enthusiastically gave his young daughters and other girls in his care to Bateman as wives, knowing that marriage in FLDS culture means sex. She said Bistline Jr. watched Bateman have sex with his child brides, sometimes via video chat and at least once in person.

“He didn’t try to stop it,” Sampson said. “He didn’t walk out.”

Sampson flipped through images of the young girls LaDell Bistline Jr. handed over to Bateman to be raped. Bistline Jr. smiled at someone in the gallery when his own daughter’s face flashed across the screen.

Prosecutors say Torrance Bistline funded the operation, buying Bateman luxury vehicles and other large gifts to help promote Bateman’s teaching and spread his message of self-revelation, which Bateman used to convince others to give him more wives. Torrance Bistline paid $215,000 in legal fees when Bateman was first arrested in August 2022.

Bateman’s child brides also said in court that Torrance Bistline anally raped a 13-year-old during one of Bateman’s “atonement ceremonies.”

Both are charged with using interstate commerce to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. LaDell Bistline Jr. is also charged with receipt of child porn, transfer of obscene materials to minors, and multiple counts of transporting a minor to engage in sexual activity. Torrance Bistline faces obstruction charges for destroying evidence of the abuse.

“Sam Bateman had zero power and control until these defendants gave it to him,” Sampson said.

Attorney Jacob Faussette, defending LaDell Bistline Jr., told the jury his client never knew what Bateman was doing to the girls, and believed him because Bateman used religion to brainwash him. Despite his appearance on the video calls, Faussette said it was never confirmed whether his client could actually see anything on the calls. No call logs or text messages confirming his knowledge were ever produced as evidence.

He added that Bistline Jr.’s daughters told the court that they never told their father about having sex with Bateman because it was supposed to be a secret.

Faussette blamed the FBI, rather than his client, for allowing Bateman to do what he did. Local law enforcement had the chance to arrest Bateman in early 2022, he said, but chose not to as to not interfere with the FBI, which had known about Bateman’s actions as early as February 2022, and most likely earlier than that, based on previous testimony.

“They had a chance to stop this monster, and they chose not to,” Faussette said of law enforcement.

Attorney Kathy Henry, defending Torrance Bistline, said he was indoctrinated into the FLDS and believed that disobeying Bateman would lead to eternal damnation.

She questioned inconsistencies in the testimony of those who say they saw Torrance Bistline rape a 13-year-old girl. The victim’s story didn’t quite match up with those who say they were present — who else was there, what position the victim was in, and who Bateman was having sex with beside her varied across versions of the story.

“The truth told wrong is a lie,” Henry said. “And the truth doesn’t change.

All who testified said Torrance Bistline raped the 13-year-old.

Jurors will return to the federal courthouse in Phoenix Wednesday morning to begin deliberations.

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