Netflix has added another true crime documentary to its collection, and this one follows a shocking story from Utah. Trust Me: The False Prophet tells the story of Samuel Bateman, a man who called himself a prophet and took more than 20 spiritual wives, including young girls. The documentary, which started streaming on April 8, 2026, comes from the same filmmaker who made Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. A married couple went undercover to gather proof and helped the FBI put Bateman behind bars.
The four-part series shows how cult expert Christine Marie and her husband, videographer Tolga Katas, moved to the Short Creek community on the Utah-Arizona border. They wanted to help people after Warren Jeffs, the former leader of the FLDS group, got life in prison in 2011 for child s*x abuse. But they found something worse. Samuel Bateman had declared himself the new prophet in 2019 and started building his own group.
Where Is Samuel Bateman Now in 2026
Samuel Rappylee Bateman is serving a 50-year prison sentence right now. He got this sentence in December 2024 after pleading guilty to two serious federal charges. The charges are conspiracy to transport a minor for criminal s*xual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. A federal judge named Susan Brnovich gave him the maximum sentence.
During the sentencing, Judge Brnovich told Bateman directly:
“The amount of harm you caused is nothing short of unmeasurable. You should not have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women. You took them from their homes, from their families and made them into s*x slaves.”
Bateman, who is 48 years old, will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. The federal prison system does not have parole, so he must serve most of his 50-year term.
How the FBI and Undercover Couple Caught the False Prophet
Christine Marie and Tolga Katas did not plan to become undercover informants. They moved to Short Creek to film a documentary about life after Warren Jeffs. But when they met Bateman and his followers, they saw something deeply wrong. Bateman welcomed them into his group. He thought they were making a documentary to spread his message.
The couple recorded Bateman talking about his actions. In one car ride from November 2021, Marie captured Bateman admitting to crimes with underage girls. His victims sat in the backseat and confirmed what he said as he told them how to respond. Even with this recording, Marie and Katas kept working to gather more proof.
Julia Johnson, one of Bateman’s followers and the mother of some of his child wives, also went to the FBI. She shared what she knew about the group’s activities. Her decision helped build the case against Bateman.
The FBI arrested Bateman in August 2022 after Arizona state troopers pulled him over. They found three minor girls riding unsecured in a box trailer hitched to his vehicle. He got arrested for child endangerment. A month later, federal agents arrested him again on charges of destroying records.
The Kidnapping Plot From Inside Jail
After Bateman’s arrest, Arizona child welfare officials removed nine underage girls from his followers’ homes and placed them in a group home. But Bateman was not done. From jail, he planned a kidnapping plot.
In November 2022, three of Bateman’s adult wives drove to the foster homes where the girls were staying. Eight of the nine girls ran to the vehicles. The group drove hundreds of miles to Spokane, Washington. Law enforcement found them on December 1, 2022. The adult wives got arrested, and the girls returned to state custody.
Bateman admitted his role in the kidnapping. This became part of his guilty plea.
Bateman’s Crimes and the Victims
Federal investigators found that Bateman had more than 20 spiritual wives. Ten of them were minors, and the youngest was only 9 years old. According to court documents, Bateman told his followers it was God’s will for him to have s*xual contact with these girls.
An FBI affidavit described how Bateman took the 9-year-old daughter of one of his followers as his wife in 2020. He then told his own biological daughter that this child was her new mother. He also took the 14-year-old and 13-year-old daughters of another follower as his wives later that year.
Bateman forced the girls to take part in individual and group s*xual activities with adults and other children. He also used a live video stream to share what he was doing with his followers.
United States Attorney Gary Restaino said:
“Protecting the most vulnerable is our highest calling as prosecutors.”
Eleven of Bateman’s adult followers got convicted for their roles in the abuse conspiracy. Some pleaded guilty, and others were found guilty at trial.
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What Happened to Bateman’s Followers
The Netflix documentary also shares what happened to the women and girls who survived Bateman’s abuse. Naomi “Nomz” Bistline and Moretta Johnson were two of Bateman’s wives. Both got arrested for their part in the kidnapping plot and served prison time.
For both women, prison became a turning point. Moretta said, “Prison set me free.” Nomz explained:
“Prison was the best and worst thing that happened to me. It forced me to start thinking for myself. It forced me to start questioning things.”
Since her release, Moretta has left the community, married, and started a family. Nomz still lives in Short Creek but wants to leave. She has been working on music and art to process her experiences. Both women testified against Bateman in court.
Julia Johnson, the mother who went to the FBI, is no longer with her husband Moroni Johnson. Moroni pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit trafficking of a minor for s*xual purposes. He started serving a 25-year prison sentence in May 2025. Two of Julia’s five daughters still follow Bateman’s teachings.
Director Rachel Dretzin, who made both Trust Me: The False Prophet and Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, said the survivors’ courage matters far beyond their small community. She called their actions a blueprint for taking down systems of abuse.
Also Read: The Testaments Release Schedule: Episode 4 Arrives April 15 on Hulu
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