Samuel Bateman claimed he had divine authority to shepherd his own extremist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). In reality, he was orchestrating a multi-state scheme to conceal horrific sexual crimes.

Netflix is reexamining Bateman’s downfall and its aftermath with the four-part docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet . Now streaming, the project looks at how the longtime faith member was able to assemble his own followers, and what led investigators to catch on to his misdeeds.

While Bateman is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence, his community is still grappling with the severity of his confirmed and alleged crimes.

Who Is Samuel Bateman, and Why Did He Call Himself a Prophet?

Samuel Rappylee Bateman was born sometime around 1976; an exact month and day hasn’t been made public.…