{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","title":"Bateman and the FLDS: How Cults Keep Making Predators","description":"Warren Jeffs got life. His community fractured. And within a few years, another man stepped into the same role, used the same theology, and destroyed another generation of girls. This is how the FLDS prophet factory works — and why locking up the man at the top has never been enough to stop the cycle.\n\nSamuel Bateman went from borrowing twenty dollars to commanding fifty followers and more than twenty wives in roughly three years. He drove Bentleys. He paraded his wives on flatbed trailers through town. He demanded fathers hand over their daughters as acts of divine obedience — and they did. Girls as young as nine were claimed as spiritual wives. The FBI says he coerced children into group sexual acts, live-streamed abuse, and gave victims to adult male followers.\n\nBefore any of that, he tried to marry his own daughter. She was fourteen. He offered her Doritos and fifty dollars. She told her mother. They got a restraining order. And he kept going — because in the FLDS, a prophet's word overrides a court order in the minds of the people who follow him.\n\nThis is Part 1 of a five-part Hidden Killers series that goes deeper than the Netflix documentary can. We trace the architecture — how Short Creek was built, how Jeffs weaponized it, how his imprisonment created the vacuum Bateman exploited, and why the theological framework that produced both men remains intact. If you've followed this show through the Duggar series, you already know how patriarchal religious systems weaponize faith against women and children. This case takes that pattern to its most extreme conclusion.\n\nJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/\n\nWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1\n\nInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/\n\nFacebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/\n\nTik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod\n\nX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod\n\nThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.\n\n#SamuelBateman #FLDS #WarrenJeffs #ShortCreek #FalseProphet #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #CultAbuse #ChildBrides #TrustMeNetflix","author_name":"Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary","author_url":"https://audioboom.com/channels/5040505-hidden-killers-with-tony-brueski-true-crime-news-commentary","provider_name":"Audioboom","provider_url":"https://audioboom.com","width":480,"height":95,"thumbnail_url":"https://audioboom.com/i/43564890/600x600/c","thumbnail_width":600,"thumbnail_height":600,"html":""}