PHOENIX (AP) — A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody.

Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.

Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to be served concurrently.

The rest of the charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Authorities say that Bateman, 48, tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as FLDS, split from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially abandoned polygamy in 1890.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Bateman after hearing statements in court by three teenage girls about the trauma they still struggle to overcome. Although they gave their names in court, The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual crime, and some appeared to still be minors.

“You should not have the opportunity to be free and never have the opportunity to be around young women, “ Brnovich told Bateman, noting that for a man of his age the 50-year sentence was effectively a life sentence.

"You took them from their homes, from their families and made them into sex slaves,” the judge said. “You stripped them of their innocence and childhood.”

A short competency hearing that was closed to the public was held just before sentencing to discuss a doctor’s assessment of Bateman’s mental health. The defense had argued that Bateman could have benefited from a maximum of 20 years of psychiatric treatment behind bars before being released.

The girls told the court, sometimes addressing Bateman himself, how they grappled to develop relationships in high school, among other struggles. Now living with foster families, they said they had received much support from trusted adults outside their community.

After the sentencing, the teens hugged and wept quietly. They were escorted out of court by a half dozen men and women in jackets with the slogan “Bikers Against Child Abuse," a group dedicated to protecting children from what it calls dangerous people and situations. A woman who sat with the teens said no one in the group would have a comment.

There was no one in the courtroom who appeared to be a supporter of Bateman.

The alleged practice of sect members sexually abusing girls whom they claim as spiritual “wives” has long plagued the FLDS. Jeffs was convicted of state charges in Texas in 2011 involving sexual assaults of his underage followers. Bateman was one of Jeffs' trusted followers and declared himself, like Jeffs, to be a “prophet” of the FLDS. Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written “revelation” sent to his followers from prison, and then tried to start his own group.

In 2019 and 2020, insisting that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven and that he was acting on orders from the “Heavenly Father,” Bateman began taking female adults and children from his male followers and proclaiming them to be his “wives,” the plea agreement said. While none of these “marriages” were legally or ceremonially recognized, Bateman acknowledged that each time he claimed another “wife,” it marked the beginning of his illicit sexual contact with the woman or girl.

Federal agents said Bateman demanded that his followers confess publicly for any indiscretions and he imposed punishments that ranged from public shaming to sexual activity, including requiring that some male followers atone for their “sins” by surrendering their own wives and daughters to him.

Bateman traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska and regularly coerced underage girls into his criminal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona said. Recordings of some of his sex crimes were transmitted across state lines via electronic devices.

Bateman was arrested in August 2022 by state police as he drove through Flagstaff, Arizona, pulling a trailer. Someone had alerted authorities after spotting small fingers reaching through the slats of the door. Inside the trailer, which had no ventilation, they found a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs and three girls, 11 to 14 years old.

Bateman posted bond but was soon arrested again, accused of obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for his sex crimes. Authorities also took nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City into protective custody.

Eight of the children later escaped from foster care in Arizona, and were found hundreds of miles away in Washington state, in a vehicle driven by one of the adult “wives.” Bateman also admitted his involvement in the kidnapping plot.

Federal prosecutors noted that Bateman's plea agreement was contingent on all of his co-defendants also pleading guilty. It also called for restitution of as much as $1 million per victim, and for all assets to be immediately forfeited.

Seven of Bateman’s adult “wives” have been convicted of crimes related to coercing children into sexual activity or impeding the investigation into Bateman. Some acknowledged they also coerced girls to become Bateman's spiritual “wives,” witnessed Bateman having criminal sexual activity with girls, participated in illicit group sex involving children, or joined in kidnapping them from foster care. Another woman is scheduled to be tried Jan. 14 on charges related to the kidnappings.

Two Colorado City brothers also face 10 years to life at their sentencings, on Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, after being convicted in October of charges including interstate travel to persuade or coerce a child to engage in sexual activity. Authorities say one bought Bateman two Bentley automobiles, while the other bought him a Range Rover.

In court records, lawyers for some of Bateman’s “wives” painted a bleak picture of their clients’ religious upbringings.

One said his client was raised in a religious cult that taught sexual activity with children was acceptable and that she was duped into “marrying” Bateman. Another said her client was given to Bateman by another man as if she were a piece of property, feeling she had no choice.