Federal charges have been filed against three women for kidnapping eight children and helping them escape from Arizona child welfare officials. These women and girls are believed to be the wives of a leader in a polygamous sect.

In September, nine girls were taken from their homes after Samuel Bateman was charged with being a religious leader in a small group.

Arizona polygamist sect holds women in jail for kidnapping: Bateman was indicted in Arizona on three counts of child abuse. This is a second-degree felony. A federal grand jury later indicted Bateman with destruction of records, tampering in an official proceeding, and destruction of records during a federal investigation.

According to a criminal complaint against the three women, eight of those girls were found with religious group members in Spokane on Thursday.

Warren Jeffs was the leader of Short Creek FLDS, which is located near Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. He is currently serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting minor girls he thought to be his wives.

Charging documents state that Bateman (46), is a “self-proclaimed prophet” of the FLDS Church within Short Creek with more than 50 followers and 20 wives, “mostly under 15 years.”

Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow, along with Moretta Rose Johnson, are charged with interfering in a case and illegally abducting eight children and taking them from the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Each of them are charged with obstruction and kidnapping.

Bateman allegations

According to Arizona’s federal court documents, Bateman and other community members engaged in illicit sexual conduct between May 2020 in Arizona, Utah and Nevada, and November 2021 with minors.

Bateman has not been charged with sexual abuse at this time, but charges indicate that an investigation is ongoing.

After being pulled over by Arizona police, Bateman was taken into custody for child endangerment. He was towing a trailer that contained at least three minor girls.

Bateman, who was in jail that day, instructed his wife and a man to delete their Signal accounts. Then, after being released on Sept. 1, Bateman asked for help to reset his phone that had been taken as evidence according to the charging documents.

Bateman was again arrested on September 13 for federal charges of tampering in a proceeding. The nine minor girls were interviewed the next day and placed in group homes.

None of the girls revealed any sexual abuse in interviews. One girl admitted that she was partly nude in a sex orgy, according to the criminal complaint. The charges state that multiple girls had sex with Bateman and touched and kissed him in journals seized from search warrants.

Some girls refused to take part in interviews. The complaint states that investigators believed older girls encouraged younger girls to not talk. Investigators then separated the girls from their siblings and placed them into group homes.

Presumptive involvement of the women

On Nov. 27, eight of the nine girls fled the group homes. Investigators believe the girls used a group chat to plan the trip with some adult wives.

The FBI was able obtain an emergency disclosure from Airbnb to provide addresses for bookings using credit cards in the name of a man belonging to the religious community or his company. Airbnb provided a Mesa address on Nov. 29, an address later in the day in Utah and an address in Spokane that was reserved between Nov. 29-Dec. 2.

Spokane sheriff’s deputy went to the Airbnb address and knocked. Although no one answered, charging documents state that deputies saw Johnson’s vehicle leaving the house. According to police, all eight girls missing were found in the vehicle.

According to the complaint, recorded video calls showed Bateman talking with Bistline on Nov. 28 regarding picking up the girls.

The complaint stated that “He tells girls how much they need them, and how it puts stress on him when they’re scattered, and that he requires everyone to be together.”

According to charging documents, Bateman was placed in federal custody in Florence (Arizona). On October 7, he was released from state custody on bail.

His federal case will be tried in January.

@stop_child_traffickin_sd♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box – takaya