Polygamist leader Samuel Pitman sentenced to 50 years in prison for his efforts to coerce women and girls into sex

A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives,” including 10 underage girls, was sentenced to 50 years in prison Monday in Arizona for forcing girls as young as nine to submit to criminal sexual acts with him and other adults. On charges of planning to kidnap them from protective custody.

Samuel Pittman, whose small group was an offshoot of the cult led by Warren Jeffs, pleaded guilty in a years-long scheme to transport girls across state lines for sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.

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

The remaining charges were dropped as part of the agreement.

Authorities say Pittman, 48, attempted to establish a branch of the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. The fundamentalist group, also known as the FLDS, broke away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Mormons officially abandoned polygamy in 1890.

Victims’ statements

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich sentenced Pittman after hearing statements from three teenage girls in court about the trauma they are still struggling to overcome.

“You should never have the opportunity to be free, never have the opportunity to be around young women,” Brnovich told Pittman, noting that for a man his age, a 50-year sentence was a life sentence. “You took them from their homes and families and made them sex slaves,” the judge said.

“You stripped them of their innocence and their childhood.”

A brief competency hearing that was closed to the public was held immediately before sentencing to discuss the doctor’s evaluation of Pittman’s mental health. The defense argued that Pittman could have benefited from psychiatric treatment for a maximum of 20 years behind bars before his release.

The girls told the court, sometimes addressing Pittman himself, how they struggled to develop relationships in high school, among other struggles. They now live with foster families, and say they have received a lot of support from trusted adults outside their community.

After the verdict, the teens hugged and cried quietly. They were escorted out of court by six men and women wearing jackets bearing the logo of Bikers Against Child Abuse, a group dedicated to protecting children from what it calls dangerous people and situations. A woman sitting 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 Pittman.

The alleged practice of sect members sexually assaulting girls they claim to be spiritual “wives” has long plagued the FLDS. Jeffs was convicted of state charges in Texas in 2011 related to the sexual assaults of his minor followers. Pittman was one of Jeffs’ trusted followers and declared himself, like Jeffs, a “prophet” of the FLDS. Jeffs condemned Bateman in a written “revelation” he sent to his followers from prison and then attempted to create his own group.

declared “wives”

In 2019 and 2020, Pittman insisted that polygamy brought exaltation in heaven and that he was acting on orders from “Heavenly Father,” and began taking adult females and children of his male followers and declaring them as his “wives,” the plea agreement states. He said. While none of these “marriages” were legally or ceremonially recognized, Bateman acknowledged that each time he asked for another “wife,” it marked the beginning of his illicit sexual intercourse with the woman or girl.

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

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

Pittman was arrested in August 2022 by state police while driving through Flagstaff, Arizona, towing a trailer. Someone alerted authorities after spotting tiny fingers reaching through the door slats. Inside the trailer, which had no ventilation, they found a makeshift toilet, a sofa, camping chairs, and three girls between the ages of 11 and 14.

Pittman posted bail but was soon arrested again, charged with obstruction of justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines because of his sex crimes. Authorities also took nine children from Pittman’s Colorado City home into protective custody.

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

Federal prosecutors noted that Pittman’s plea agreement was conditional on all of his co-defendants also pleading guilty. It also called for the return of up to US$1 million to each victim, and the immediate confiscation of all assets.

Grim upbringing

Seven of Pittman’s adult “wives” were convicted of crimes related to coercing children into sexual activity or obstructing the investigation of Pittman’s case. Some admitted that they also forced the girls to become Pittman’s spiritual “wives,” witnessed Pittman engaging in criminal sexual activity with girls, engaged in illicit group sex with children, or joined in their kidnapping from foster care. Another woman is scheduled to go on trial on January 14 on charges related to the kidnapping.

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

One of them said his client was raised in a religious sect that considered sexual activity with children acceptable, and that she had been tricked into “marrying” Bateman. Another said another man gave her client to Pittman as if she were a piece of property, and she felt she had no other choice.