Dr. Christine Marie arrived at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints neighborhood of Short Creek hoping to help and help members in want. Instead, she uncovered a disturbing legal scheme that compelled her to intervene.
Marie’s efforts to doc the lifetime of self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman—in addition to to assemble legal proof in opposition to him—is the basis of the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet. Streaming on April 8, the four-part undertaking examines how video footage and interviews gathered by Marie helped inform authorities of sexual abuse going down underneath Bateman’s watch.
Here’s what that you must learn about Marie, her background, and function in Bateman’s seize.
Who Is Christine Marie?
According to her personal website, Marie earned a bachelor’s diploma in psychology from Brigham Young University in 1989 and later earned a grasp’s and PhD in psychology, with an emphasis in media psychology.
Her ardour in the area is immediately associated to non-public expertise, as Marie writes she is a sufferer of “cult-based human trafficking.”
Marie based Voices for Dignity, a nonprofit that “promotes online kindness and compassion, and that contributes resources and advocacy for marginalized populations as well as survivors of public shaming, dehumanization, and stigmatization.” It was by the group that Marie turned an advocate for members of the FLDS neighborhood following the arrest and conviction of chief Warren Jeffs.
Around 2019, Samuel Bateman, the major determine of Trust Me, claimed divine authority in defiance of Jeffs and created his personal extremist sect often known as the “Samuelites.” As Marie would discover out, it was truly a entrance for an intensive scheme that allegedly included the trafficking and abuse of girls and women.
How Did Christine Marie Learn of Samuel Bateman’s Crimes?
According to a Salt Lake Tribune video essay, Marie’s group, Voices for Dignity, started helping Bateman, who was going by a divorce and didn’t have some huge cash. Gradually, Bateman grew extra trusting of Marie and her husband, producer and photographer Tolga Katas.
Then in 2021, Bateman invited Marie for a trip in his Bentley, the place she sat alongside three younger ladies—together with a minor. Already suspicious of his conduct, Marie was shocked as Bateman started offering particulars of what she known as “ritualistic sexual abuse” going down inside the neighborhood. The different passengers in the automotive had been allegedly amongst the victims. So, regardless of the threat, she grabbed her cellphone and began recording Bateman.
Later, she known as native police. “I think I have the bombshell you need,” she advised them.
After this, Marie and Katas started working as informants for the FBI and often visited Bateman’s neighborhood often known as Short Creek to watch potential victims. Believing he could be a part of a documentary movie by Katas, Bateman allowed them to take video of himself and the neighborhood.
Still, as a result of Bateman by no means immediately admitted to any extra crimes, Marie wanted extra proof to immediate the involvement of legislation enforcement.
How Did Christine Marie Assist in Samuel Bateman’s Arrest?
Christine Marie helped arrange a raid of Samuel Bateman’s warehouse involving federal brokers.Courtesy of Netflix
Marie spoke with Julia Johnson, an excommunicated FLDS member whose 4 daughters got to Bateman in non secular marriages. She helped persuade Johnson to share her intimate data of Short Creek with the FBI, setting the stage for his apprehension.
Although Bateman was initially arrested in a site visitors cease on August 28, 2022, and launched on bond, Marie and Katas performed an integral function in authorities’ subsequent raid of Short Creek. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, they requested Bateman to reach at his warehouse alone for an interview as brokers secretly waited. Although he arrived with three of his wives, authorities had been in a position to safe Bateman and perform their search. Agents seized computer systems, a tough drive, Bateman’s start certificates, two grownup toys, and a number of other cell telephones.
Bateman faced dozens of charges. However, he ultimately pleaded guilty in April 2024 to Conspiracy to Commit Transportation of a Minor for Criminal Sexual Activity and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping as a part of a take care of prosecutors. He was sentenced to 50 years in jail, adopted by supervised lifetime launch.
Where Is Christine Marie Now?
According to her skilled biography, Marie lives in Colorado City, Arizona—certainly one of the twin cities making up Short Creek—with Katas and has an animal sanctuary. She works as an creator, educator, and public speaker, and she or he developed and teaches a course on vital pondering, cult psychology, and coercion.
In 2024, she received the Harriet Tubman Peace Medallion from the Freedom Express Awards. Named after the famed abolitionist, the honor is introduced to “mediators and negotiators who facilitate peaceful exits for victims from coercive groups, ensuring safety and minimizing conflict.”
Marie remains to be actively helping former Samuelite neighborhood members. She announced on her personal website she is launching a fundraiser in correlation with the launch of Trust Me on April 8 for survivors of Samuel Bateman. It is named the Dream Fund and might be monitored by an accountant from Voices for Dignity.
“Our hope is to provide these survivors some unexpected blessings to be able to something positive and wonderful, whether it’s move to a new house, put a down payment on a car, travel to Disneyworld, take dancing lessons, or who knows what else?” Marie writes.
Watch Trust Me: The False Prophet on Netflix
Marie is seen in the Trust Me trailer by archival video from her time at Short Creek, in addition to in new interviews.
Tudum has confirmed that director Rachel Dretzin, who beforehand helmed 2022’s Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey about the FLDS and Warren Jeffs, started involvement in the docuseries after analyzing Marie’s private footage.
“Trust Me offers intimate access to a normally closed world—and in doing so, I hope it exposes both the violence that enforced secrecy enables and what it takes to tell the truth when everything is at stake,” Dretzin defined. “What these women did matters far beyond their community. It is a blueprint for how to dismantle even the most entrenched systems of abuse.”
Trust Me: The False Prophet is now streaming on Netflix.
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