*Trust Me: The False Prophet* is a Netflix true-crime documentary series, released in 2026, that delves into the inner workings of religious exploitation and the mindset that leads women to surrender all autonomy and submit to their leader within polygamous cults. This four-part documentary miniseries chronicles the prolonged efforts of Christine Marie and her husband, Tolga Katas, to uncover incriminating evidence against an FLDS leader—Sam Bateman—all while pretending to be filming a documentary about him. Taken as a whole, the miniseries proves to be a viewing experience as intriguing as it is harrowing, due to the details of the horrific crimes to which Bateman’s victims were subjected.
*The False Prophet* opens by introducing the heroes of this story: Christine Marie and her husband, Tolga Katas, who had a very specific mission in mind when they moved to Short Creek—a small town situated on the Utah-Arizona border—back in 2016. Short Creek is a well-known haven for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a religious group that splintered from the mainstream branch of the Mormon religion (LDS). While the LDS has modified its stance regarding polygamy—introducing reforms to its original religious beliefs and laws by renouncing the practice—the FLDS continues to firmly preach the religious necessity for a man to have multiple wives.
Stars: Christine Marie, Tolga Katas, Samuel Bateman
Consequently, FLDS members and their leaders openly practice polygamy in their towns and communities, despite the fact that this practice is illegal in all 50 U.S. states. As a result, the group has come under intense scrutiny from authorities for crimes involving child sexual abuse, kidnapping, and human trafficking—specifically involving minors. In 2011, the president and leader of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs, was arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a minor and the rape of a minor; he is currently serving a life sentence. For Christine Marie, the FLDS represented not merely a subject of passing curiosity, but rather the source of grave abuse and trauma, given that she herself had been a victim of religious exploitation in the past.
Christine was born and raised within a mainstream Mormon (LDS) family, and she had devoted herself completely to her faith and her church. Since belief in prophets remains common within these Christian sects, Christine was easily swayed when a man claimed to be a modern-day prophet capable of guiding her to heaven through a pious and devout life. Never once questioning his intentions, she agreed to become one of his many wives—before finding herself immersed in a series of terrifying experiences. Her husband—and religious leader—sexually exploited Christine for many years, forcing her to engage in intimate acts with other men and even photographing her in compromising situations. What was undoubtedly even worse was the fact that the young woman did not even realize that something terribly wrong was happening to her until years later.
Once Christine realized she had been a victim of religious exploitation—and after successfully managing to leave the group—she tried her hand at various endeavors: from performing magic tricks as an illusionist to hosting her own television show as a ventriloquist. After meeting and falling in love with Tolga Katas—a photographer and music producer of Turkish descent—Christine finally found a pillar of support in her life and felt a desire to do something to help other young women trapped in situations similar to the one she had endured. It was precisely for this reason that the couple moved to Short Creek in 2016, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the FLDS and comprehending why hundreds of people continued to place their faith in a religious group led by an individual convicted of child abuse. Initially, they found it difficult to integrate into that society—which was radically different from their own—given that Christine and Tolga constituted one of only two monogamous families in the entire town. Given their respective professional specializations, the couple—unsurprisingly—set out to film a documentary about Short Creek and its inhabitants; and, despite initial opposition, they succeeded in convincing the townspeople that the project’s sole purpose was to portray the diversity and beauty of American society. It was precisely through this ostensible documentary—which, in reality, was nothing more than a façade to gather information about the community and verify whether any form of abuse was being committed against the numerous women and children residing there—that they managed to get close to Sam Bateman and bring his horrific secrets to light.
When Warren Jeffs was sent to prison, he ordered all his followers to cease physical intimacy with their partners and to put an end to all childbearing. It is not difficult to guess that the man simply did not want anyone else to enjoy life while he could not; and, although the most basic tenets of the FLDS stipulated that followers should give birth once a year to expand their community, they obeyed their prophet's command. However, one man in the community—Samuel Bateman—seemed to have reached his breaking point when, suddenly, he began bringing new wives into his home around the year 2019. Samuel—or Sam, as he was better known—was not, in any case, a popular figure within the community, and his eccentricities enraged the others, who were quick to ostracize him. But this lasted only until Sam devised a truly simple, yet effective, plan to deceive the others: he began claiming that Warren Jeffs had died in prison and that the media were simply lying to the world by asserting that he was still alive. Given that Jeffs had ceased communicating with his followers from prison after developing mental health issues, this was not a difficult lie to make people believe.
Sam went so far as to declare that Jeffs was speaking to him from the afterlife; and, while this may seem like a joke to you and me, for members of the FLDS, it was a matter of the utmost seriousness. Warren Jeffs himself had managed to become the community's leader by claiming that his father—the previous leader, Rulon Jeffs—had spoken to him from the afterlife and had, consequently, chosen him over his numerous brothers. Thus, Sam resorted to a similar lie to establish that he was receiving messages from the former prophet—messages instructing him to marry and begin repopulating the community once again—which, in turn, implied that he was the new prophet and leader. Although not everyone was convinced, a significant number of people decided to join what became a splinter group of the FLDS, known as the "Samualite Group." It is worth noting here that women within the FLDS community have absolutely no voice or vote in such matters and are treated like livestock—beings whose sole function is to bear and raise children, and to tend to their husbands and homes. Consequently, Sam’s next move was to exert control over three prominent men within the community: Moroni Johnson, Torrance Bistline, and Ladell Bistline Jr.
It was a highly calculated maneuver that quickly granted Sam access to the three men’s successful businesses, their wealth, and—of course—their families. His initial group of wives—likely numbering around eight to ten—consisted of women hailing from neighboring states or towns, whom he had, technically speaking, trafficked across state lines. Since he now enjoyed the complete trust of Moroni, Torrance, and Ladell, the three men agreed to hand over their wives, daughters, sisters, nieces, and any other female relatives or wards under their care to become wives of the prophet, Sam Bateman. It is evident that the social framework and mindset in which all these women had been raised played a pivotal role in their submission to what was, in reality, nothing short of an atrocious situation. Women of the Mormon faith—and particularly those within the FLDS community—are raised to believe that obedience constitutes their sole and true purpose in life, a path that will ultimately lead them to Heaven after death.
The women and young girls whom Sam initially took as wives were likely members of the Mormon or FLDS communities in neighboring states; this led both them and their families to sincerely believe that this modern-day prophet was simply calling upon them for their support. Consequently, the women expressed their joy at "serving" the prophet—who had had the "kindness" to take them as wives—when, in reality, they were so habituated to oppression and mistreatment that they sought solace in the idea of now being alongside the community leader and, therefore, as safe as possible.
Over the course of just a few years, Sam Bateman’s harem came to include more than 20 adult women, as well as 9 underage girls. Apparently, religion—or, at least, the FLDS faith—does not strictly adhere to the legal age of consent; that is to say, a girl need not necessarily be of legal age to enter into marriage. The next obvious question is whether Sam Bateman engaged in intimate relations with these young females—who, in theory, were his wives—and the answer proves even more repugnant than one might imagine. As he himself admitted to Christine and Tolga, Sam forced the minors to engage in sexual acts not only with him but also with other men, essentially using them as pawns.
The first time Sam was detained by the police occurred in August 2022, in Flagstaff, Arizona, after local authorities spotted his enclosed trailer—which had children inside—traveling along the highway. At that time, Sam had learned that authorities in Short Creek were investigating him and was attempting to flee along with some of his wives.
His trailer was in such a deplorable state that the doors would not stay shut; consequently, the girls he had packed inside had to hold them closed from the interior. It was precisely because of this that the police were able to see their fingers peeking out and proceeded to pull him over on the highway. However, given that the women and girls—having been indoctrinated—refused to provide any statements against Sam—and even denied being his wives—no serious charges could be brought against him. The Flagstaff police released Sam the following morning, and although they confiscated his phone and handed it over to the FBI, no incriminating evidence was found on it.
Sam had always been extremely cautious to avoid leaving any public evidence of his crimes; for instance, he never allowed anyone to take photographs of him alongside his younger wives. But what he had failed to anticipate was the possibility that it might be Christine and Tolga who were gathering evidence against him. When he opened up and confessed to having forced his younger wives to engage in sexual acts with other men—under the pretext of having received a divine message from Warren Jeffs commanding him to do so—Christine secretly recorded the conversation on her phone. Over the following months, she and Tolga continued to provide information to local authorities and, subsequently, to Dawn Martin, the FBI agent who took charge of the case.
Finally, the FBI decided to intervene and execute simultaneous search warrants at both of Sam’s residences in an effort to uncover further incriminating evidence against him; This occurred a few weeks after his initial arrest and subsequent release in 2022. Tolga’s videos proved invaluable once again, as he had meticulously documented the complete layout of the houses, enabling the search to be carried out successfully.
On September 13, 2022, the FBI finally executed the search—deploying an operation comprising nearly 50 agents from various states—and Sam Bateman was taken into custody. Although compelling evidence was found against him, authorities still needed the young women who had lived with him to open up about their experiences in order to charge him with child rape. Possibly in an effort to neutralize the influence that Sam and his other wives exerted over the minds of these nine young women, the Department of Child Safety removed them from Short Creek and placed them together in a foster home.
While Sam Bateman was ultimately arrested, the series *Trust Me: The False Prophet* also prompts viewers to question whether authorities could have acted with greater urgency, while subtly highlighting how the law itself sometimes demands an excessive amount of evidence before allowing significant action to be taken. For starters, the Colorado City/Hildale Police Department—represented in the docuseries by Sergeant David Wilkinson—admits to having received reports against Samuel Bateman for bringing in wives from other states, even before Christine and Tolga filed their own complaints. However, they allegedly had to wait to gather more evidence before intervening—even after Christine handed over the audio recording in which Sam himself admitted to sexually abusing minors.
Even FBI Agent Dawn Martin admits to being baffled by the fact that local police did not intervene after learning that young women were in danger. Far too often, Christine Marie and Tolga Katas were forced to assume the role of law enforcement, acting as investigative journalists in their attempt to gather evidence. This undertaking placed their lives in grave danger; However, the local police did not appear to show any concern regarding the matter. Even following Sam's arrest, the FBI requested official statements from the detainee's nine young wives and once again enlisted Christine's assistance, given that all members of the "Samuelite" group considered her a close confidante.
Nevertheless, in an act of extreme insensitivity, the Department of Child Services included Christine's name in one of its documents; this document was discovered by one of the young women, thereby identifying Christine as the group's "traitor." Consequently, the women and young women felt even more threatened and carried out a daring operation through which the nine young women were liberated.
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