WHEN Dr Christine Marie moved to the isolated plains of Utah she never imagined she would orchestrate an undercover operation to rescue dozens of women and girls from a vile paedophile cult leader.
From an outcast to informant, Christine risked her life working as double agent to bring down the paedo-polygamist “prophet” who engineered a twisted spiritual sex ring to systematically abuse women and girls.
Sitting on the rugged Arizona border, Short Creek has long been home to a secretive fundamentalist Mormon community where polygamy and cult control have established roots.
Christine and her husband, Tolga Katas, packed up their home in 2015 and moved with the intention of offering help to the isolated Mormon population after a deadly storm.
But when a man named Samuel Bateman, 50, arrived in town with two SUVs full of young women, children and babies, her life changed forever.
On the eve of the sting, she told herself: “This will be the last night Sam Bateman will ever be able to rape a child again.”
The red-desert terrain of Short Creek was the historic HQ for the (FLDS) community, still home to women believers who wear traditional prairie dresses and style their hair in long, distinct braids.
An ultra-conservative Mormon splinter group, the group teaches that multiple marriages is required for salvation and that living prophets hold a direct line of communication with God.
It was governed by the prophet-leader Warren Jeffs until his arrest in 2006 and convictions for two counts of child sexual assault. He was sentenced to life in prison.
From jail he continued to rule and strictly prohibited any members from marrying and having any children until one day he went quiet – leaving a power vacuum rife for exploitation which Sam stepped into.
Speaking with The Sun, Christine told how she deceived Bateman, helping his brainwashed wives escape his abusive and sadistic grasp.
The first time Christine met Sam, she didn’t think much.
She said: “He was a very broke, unsuccessful person – not a charismatic person in any respect. And then in 2019 he just disappeared.
“I actually worried because I thought he was going to kill himself but then he returned a year later.
“He returned with a new wife, a young wife.”
Their surprise union quickly became the talk of the town, as Warren Jeff’s marriage ban was still in place. Amid the local uproar, Sam vanished once again.
Christine continued: “In 2021 he came back with two SUVs full of women and children.
“Sam said to me ‘Christine come and meet my wives’ and I was dumbfounded. How did Sam of all people get all these wives?”
She quickly learned a staggering reality, that nine of his wives were under the age of 18, with the youngest being only nine-years-old.
Christine’s felt compelled to help these women from experiences in her past. After joining the mainstream Mormon Church at 18, she fell prey to a fake prophet during a vulnerable period of her life.
After tricking her to believe he was a phophet, he forced her into sex work.
After escaping the sect, she studied psychology at university and dedicated her doctoral research to cults.
Given this unique insight, Christine’s internal alarm bells were screaming.
Her and Tolga were unprepared to just sit back so they hatched a plan to weaponise Sam’s own narcissism against him.
Documentary-filmmaker Tolga had already been recording the FLDS community, but pivoted to strictly filming him and his wives in the hope of collecting evidence against him.
This gave them unprecedented access to Sam and his “Samualites”, as his followers were known.
Mad with power, Sam claimed to be the newly appointed prophet by God. He said he was the new mouthpiece of God and that he alone had the power to absolve people of their sins.
They learned many of Sam’s wives were related to one another including sets of sisters, mothers and daughters who were bound to him through legal or “spiritual marriages.”
Christine learned how Sam had “won over” three respected businessmen, Torrance Bistline, his brother Ladell and Moroni Johnson, who became devoted members of his sect.
Before arriving in Short Creek, the men handed over their daughters and spouses to be Sam’s wives. Johnson gave four of his daughters, two of who were under-age, and his wife.
These men bankrolled Sam’s life including a fleet of white Bentleys.
Christine said the girls were forbidden from looking at their own image, whether that be through a mirror or a camera because Sam said they would become “vain”.
She learned how the girls also could not complement one another because the “glory belonged to Sam”.
Yet, as odd as his behaviour was, Christine needed a smoking gun.
“We didn’t have any hard evidence that he was doing anything wrong. We didn’t see any blatant abuse in the beginning,” Christine said.
But this all changed during a car journey where Sam admitted to having sexual relations with the children.
She said: “I secretly recorded his confession of ritualistic sexual abuse.
“His victims that were part of this sex ‘ceremony’ were in the car with me – two young women and one child.
“He just said it and the girls were in the back confirming it all – weeping and saying how much it hurt. It was just unfathomable what I was hearing and I had to secretly record it.
“I was going out of my mind – this is actually happening to these little girls.”
Still reeling from shock, Christine and Tolga rushed the tape to the city police.
She said: “I was so disgusted and appalled that it was not easy for us to continue to associate with him but the little girl next to me in that car who was silently weeping – I just remember her.
“Her voice, her innocence, her tears, they drove me.”
From there Christine spent every waking hour with the “Samualites”, capturing more and more footage, and collecting any evidence she could.
Yet every time she presented her findings to local police, Christine said she was met the same response – without a direct witness or a victim of the abuse, their hands were tied.
Still she refused to walk away. “I needed to keep my eye on the underage girls,” Christine explained.
“If they got pregnant, I wanted them to know they could trust me and that I could help.”
She and Tolga pushed on, infiltrating deeper into the group with Christine embedded with the women while Tolga with the men.
But the emotional strain of the double life was overwhelming. She said: “There were times I was barely functional.
“I’d come home after what was supposed to be a great day with Sam and his wives, curl into the fetal position on my bed, and just cry.”
Their secret life continued for months until a breakthrough. One of the wives, Makelle Bistline, broke her silence. She asked Christine for help in escaping Sam and promised to talk to the police.
Makelle said Sam would select different women and girls for sex, sometimes alone, sometimes in a group. She said there were rituals where the “wives” were passed around men, with videos streamed to followers elsewhere.
Sam weaponized and disguised sex as a way of “atoning” for sins. This allowed him to force his followers – the three men and his wives – to engage group sex.
Then another wife, Julia Johnson, came to Christine and was willing to talk with the police to bring the “suffering” to an end. Finally Christine had the evidence required to bring to the FBI.
She said Bateman had grown increasingly paranoid after a brief arrest in August when he was caught towing a trailer full of his underage wives.
The cops were called when drivers noticed little fingers sticking out the back of it.
Bateman was released on bail, but the following month, sensing he was planning to flee with his wives to avoid prosecution, the FBI finally acted.
In September, nearly a year after that car journey, the FBI raided Sam’s house, arrested him, and took the children into state custody.
The night before, Christine sat with Tolga and quietly said her goodbyes in case they did not survive the fallout.
She said: “I cried a lot because I was so conflicted – I knew how much they [the wives] loved me and I knew how much this was going to hurt them to find out that I was the one who betrayed them.”
Many of the brainwashed women and girls showed fierce loyalty to Sam.
“These girls and women really loved Sam and if Sam got arrested, they would level the state of Utah and Arizona to get him back. There was a real risk,” she said.
But although she was scared, she reminded herself: “This will be the last night Sam Bateman will ever be able to rape a child again.”
In December 2024, Sam was sentenced to 50 years in prison, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Eleven others were also sentenced, including some of the adult wives, Moroni Johnson who was sentenced to 25 years in prison and brothers Torrance Bistline and LaDell Bistline Jr, who received sentences of 35 years and life in prison, respectively.
In August of this year, Sam was given an additional 24 years behind bars for state convictions of child abuse.
One victim described the psychological pain she suffered at the hands of Sam. She said he first took advantage of her sexually when she was just 12.
“He stole my childhood,” she said.
At his second sentencing, Ammon Barker, the Coconino county attorney, said: “Today’s sentence is about accountability for the harm done to these young victims.
“It also ensures that Mr Bateman will never again be in a position to harm a child.”
Despite his incarceration, many of Sam’s followers still believe him to be the prophet.
Christine continues to live in Short Creek, remaining close to former “Samualites” as well as the wider FLDS community.
You can watch Christine’s incredible story on in Trust Me: The False Prophet.
