Arizona man who aided in FLDS ‘child brides’ scheme gets life in prison
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — An Arizona man and follower of the polygamous FLDS sect has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in a years-long child sexual abuse ring.
LaDell Jay Bistline, Jr., 46, of Colorado City, Arizona, was convicted on multiple charges last October, including possession of child pornography, sex trafficking young girls, and recruiting victims for the group’s leader, 48-year-old Samuel Bateman. His sentence was handed down on Wednesday.
Authorities say the abuse spanned across several states, including Arizona, and at least 10 children were victimized. Bistline and others transported children through Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona to facilitate the abuse.
Bistline also participated in group sexual activity involving minors, including one he watched over a video livestream.
His brother, Torrance Bistline, 36, was also found guilty of child sex abuse last year.
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.
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,” court documents said.
Bateman agreed to a plea deal last April where he acknowledged taking underage brides, having sex with them and arranging group sex, sometimes involving the child brides. In December, a judge sentenced Bateman to 50 years in prison.
RELATED: Faith Bistline escaped the FLDS and helped uncover their crimes
He and 10 of his other followers were not part of the trial against Bistline.
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, and was manipulated by Bateman into doing things she wouldn’t otherwise do.
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