SALT LAKE CITY — Two more of Samuel Bateman's purported wives appeared before a federal judge in Arizona on Wednesday, where they were ordered to remain in custody for now on kidnapping and obstruction of justice charges.
Bateman is the leader of what is described as an offshoot of the Fundamentalist LDS Church based in Colorado City, Ariz., where court documents show he is under investigation for taking a number of girls as polygamous "wives" and sexual abuse.
Court records show that U.S. Magistrate Judge Camille Bibles ordered Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow to be held for now pending future hearings. Barlow was declared a flight risk, court records indicate. Court documents show Bistline may be released from jail with GPS monitoring.
Meanwhile, court records show that a third purported wife, Maretta Johnson, has agreed to be extradited from Spokane, Wash., to Arizona to face the same charges. She entered a not guilty plea during a federal court appearance there.
The three were accused by FBI agents of helping eight girls run away from Arizona child protective services custody last month. They were found at an Airbnb rented by followers of Bateman in Spokane. The incident stems from an FBI raid on Bateman's Colorado City home in September, following his arrest on child abuse offenses. He is also accused of interfering with a federal investigation. A group of girls were found in a locked trailer on I-40 headed toward Phoenix.
Bateman, FBI agents have alleged in court filings, has more than 20 wives with many of them under the age of 15. Court documents describe in graphic detail sexual abuses of people who are described as followers of Bateman.
Bateman has claimed to have inherited the mantle of the FLDS Church from imprisoned polygamous leader Warren Jeffs. However, FOX 13 News reported in August that Jeffs has reasserted his control of the FLDS Church from prison where he is serving a life-sentence related to underage marriages.
