Samuel Bateman, a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints self-declared prophet, opted to represent himself while on trial for three counts of child abuse.

After taking over a sect of the polygamist group from cult leader Warren Jeffs, Bateman accumulated followers and wives, with some being as young as 9 years old.

His story was documented by cult expert Dr. Christine Marie, who provided video evidence of Bateman's crimes to the FBI in Netflix series Trust Me: The False Prophet. After spending time with him during her own undercover investigation, Marie wasn't shocked when Bateman chose to represent himself, but she was surprised when his mask seemed to slip, Breaking Celebrity News can reveal.

Bateman pleaded not guilty and represented himself. Ultimately, he was unsuccessful, and a jury found him guilty on June 30. The outcome wasn't surprising to Marie and Bateman's victims, who she remained close with after the private investigation and streaming series.

She told Radar, "Of course we knew he would be found guilty. But what we didn't expect is that when he was representing himself, the true Sam would come out so clearly."

Bateman, whom Marie called a great "con man," attempted to represent himself as a kind and loving father, but Marie, who was at the trial, insisted he came across as the opposite. "When you looked at the questions that he was asking himself, it was mind-boggling," she said.

The documentarian went on to highlight a couple of the surprising questions: "He asked himself, 'Are you a prophet? Did you ever get in a fight in prison?'"

What surprised Marie the most was his questions led into topics he previously hoped to keep shielded from the jury. She explained, "It was strange, because those were the kinds of things that, in the hearing, the pretrial hearing, that they all agreed they would not bring up during the trial, and he brought them up himself."

Marie added, "He had so many confusing and mixed messages that it became clear that he's a con man. He can't even keep his own story straight. Even in his opening statements, he admitted that he did the crimes."

In court, Bateman reportedly appeared soft-spoken and was asked to speak up three times by the court reporter, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.

"I have a clean slate, a very clean slate, so please keep that in mind," he told the jury, despite previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

He added, “I am not a child abuser.”

Marie pointed out the dissonance between his innocuous opening statement and the subsequent, more telling questions. She added, "So now the jury knew he was in prison. Now the jury figured out why does he consider himself a prophet?"

While Bateman was previously convicted on other charges, the 2026 trial was more direct in nature, regarding young girls he had stowed away in his trailer.

Police stopped his vehicle while he was in Flagstaff in 2022 after fingers were reportedly spotted peeking through his trailer. They found three girls, ages 11 to 14, inside an enclosure with a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs.

The trial allowed individual victims to levy their allegations against Bateman, who had previously been accused of a grander conspiracy.

Marie said, "That made me very happy, is that when he was found guilty of specific child abuse charges against specific girls, and those girls testified along with others."

Marie runs the non-profit organization Voices for Dignity with a mission "to dignify those affected by human trafficking, public humiliation, and stigmatization by helping them to heal, reclaim their voice, and flourish." They offer support and raise funds for the victims of Bateman.