Filmmaker infiltrated 'polygamist cult' and interviewed leader admitting to horrific crimes against children

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.

Infiltrating a cult is a journalistic task as old as time, but one filmmaker was able to not only interview a leader but convince them to admit to their crimes against children.

Christine Marie moved to Short Creek Utah with her husband, videographer Tolga Katas, to try and document and support the local community, discovering a rogue Mormon sect which would later be referred to as a cult.

This religious group were led by Samuel Bateman, a former Mormon who decided to declare he was a prophet and take multiple wives.

Bateman’s multiple polygamous wives included children, with the self-proclaimed prophet later being jailed for having had sex with one of his ‘wives’ who was 12 years old.

Marie is a cult expert and, during her move to document the breakaway Mormon cult led by Bateman, decided to start filming for a documentary.

This has now released on Netflix, called Trust Me: The False Prophet, and is a shocking watch in which Bateman admits to his crimes of sexual abuse against underage girls.

Marie and Katas were able to infiltrate the false prophet’s inner circle, convincing him to sit down for interviews he believed were going to be used to push his beliefs worldwide.

Bateman came to prominence in Short Creek after the arrest of a former ‘prophet’ of the local Church of Latter-Day Saints (often known as the Mormon Church).

This former prophet, Warren Jeffs, was also arrested for sexual abuse against children and is currently carrying out a life sentence.

Knowing the community would be struggling in the aftermath of his arrest as a cult expert, Marie moved there and began documenting things when she met Bateman.

She stated that, after not having known him for long, she was invited to ride in a car with him where he introduced her to three of his wives, one of whom was clearly a minor.

Marie began recording him as he described the ‘ritualistic sexual abuse’ he would put his wives through.

Christine spoke about how important it was that Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his crimes (Netflix)

This included a ritual he called the ‘Binding of Brothers’ he would have sex with the wives of his followers whilst other men and underaged girls were made to watch.

Speaking about the documentary, Christine told Tudum: “I was an outsider that could do something they would’ve done if they could, but they couldn’t because the people that were in shunned the people that were out.

“There was this big invisible wall between them. I just had this little opportunity.”

Bateman ended up receiving a 50 year sentence for his crimes, with Christine adding: “It was so validating for me to make sure that these girls and women were safe.

“Even the women who still believe in him are a hundred times safer with him not in the house.

“He could never rape another girl again. There was a sense of closure for me.”

Trust Me: The False Prophet is available to stream on Netflix now.