Samuel Bateman broke away from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) in 2019 to establish a polygamist cult near the Utah–Arizona border. Believing himself to be the heir of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, Bateman, who was born in 1976, declared himself a prophet and coerced his followers to surrender their wives and daughters to him. After three years, he had taken more than 20 “spiritual” wives, 10 of whom were underage girls.
Bateman was arrested in August 2022 when state police caught him transporting young girls in a trailer with no ventilation. He was released on bond but was arrested again the following month for obstruction of justice. In April 2024, the cult leader pleaded guilty to kidnapping and transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity and was later sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Bateman’s demise is the subject of the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet, but he wasn’t the only one who faced legal consequences. In fact, seven of his adult wives were also convicted, three of whom—Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow, and Moretta Rose Johnson—were specifically charged with kidnapping.
Here’s what we know about them and their involvement in Bateman’s case.
Who Are Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow, and Moretta Rose Johnson?
Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow, and Moretta Rose Johnson became Bateman’s wives between 2019 and 2020. Johnson was just 17 when Bateman took her as his bride, and she gave birth to his child just months after turning 18. Bistline and Barlow, on the other hand, were in their early 20s.
Following Bateman’s September 2022 arrest, authorities found nine girls in his Colorado City, Arizona, home and placed them in foster care in Arizona. From jail, he instructed the three women to reunite with the girls, who were Bateman’s daughters and child brides. The women obeyed, kidnapping eight of the children from a group home in November. Johnson reportedly drove the getaway car.
In December 2022, Bistline, Barlow, and Johnson were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to tamper with a federal investigation. While they initially pleaded not guilty, they all eventually accepted plea deals.
Where Are Bistline, Barlow, and Johnson Now?
In February 2024, Barlow, who has only a seventh-grade education, pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge. As part of her plea deal, she admitted to helping carry out the abduction. She also confessed that she participated in group sex with Bateman and some of the other wives, one of whom was a child at the time. In August 2024, Barlow, now around 28, was sentenced to house arrest and three years of supervised release.
That same month, Bistline, who was 26 at the time, pleaded guilty to obstruction. She testified that she was sexually assaulted by one of Bateman’s followers, LaDell Bistline Jr., at his instruction, and revealed that she witnessed Bateman and another follower, Torrance Bistline, sexually abuse children. This testimony came just one year after she claimed to have never witnessed such child abuse. In court, Bistline admitted she had previously “lied” because she was still “brainwashed” by Bateman at the time. In December 2024, she was sentenced to time served with three years of probation.
Johnson, who corroborated parts of Bistline’s story, was the last to accept a plea deal. After awaiting extradition from Washington, she eventually pleaded guilty to concealing a felony—a lesser crime than obstruction. Since she was a minor when Bateman became involved with her, her lawyer argued she was “a victim since day one.” In February 2025, Johnson, then 21, received the same sentence as Bistline.
Today, all three women are presumably still in Arizona as a condition of their probations, though their exact locations and current involvement with Bateman are unknown.
How to Watch Trust Me: The False Prophet
Directed by Rachel Dretzin, Trust Me: The False Prophet explores how cult expert Christine Marie and her husband, videographer Tolga Katas, took down Bateman by infiltrating his inner circle. The four-part docuseries, which features interviews with Bistline and other wives, is streaming on Netflix.
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
