7 Facts About the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The 2026 Netflix documentary Trust Me: The False Prophet is the latest docuseries to expose the inner workings of segments of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), an extremist sect that broke away from the Mormon church in the early 1900s and is known for practicing polygamy. 

The series follows two outsiders to the church who manage to befriend the family of Sam Bateman, a now-convicted sex offender who claimed to have divine power and authority over a segment of the church's members. This is far from the first time the FLDS has faced scrutiny and prosecution, though.

The FLDS originated from the Mormon Church’s ban on polygamy

In 1890, mainstream Mormonism officially renounced polygamy as part of a deal with the federal government that guaranteed Utah statehood. Polygamy is the practice of having multiple spouses, and this practice originated with Joseph Smith, Mormonism’s founding prophet. Around 1931, Smith said he was given a message from God that told him polygamy was not adultery when it was ordered by God—or, in the case of many Mormon families that would adopt the practice, the church.

Following the 1890 decision to abandon this practice, a small group of people refused to comply with mainstream Mormonism’s decision. By the 1930s, this group had consolidated itself into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Members mostly resided on the Utah-Arizona border, and the sect survived despite government and law enforcement’s efforts to dismantle it in the following decades.

Warren Jeffs established himself as the group’s main prophet in 2002

In 1986, Rulon Jeffs served as the group’s president and prophet. His son, Warren, inherited this power in 2002 and took things to the extreme.

Jeffs claimed he and he alone was privy to God’s word, and his word was absolute.  He began placing extreme restrictions on members’ behavior, and also began assigning wives to husbands and reassigning wives when he perceived husbands to be unworthy or disobedient. He also cast out many young male members of the group and frequently espoused deeply racist and homophobic beliefs. Eventually, he brought his followers to a large compound in Texas. 

Warren Jeffs is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence

Jeffs’ legal troubles truly began in 2005, when a court froze the FLDS’s $100 million trust after allegations that he was using it to manipulate members. Later that year, he was indicted in Mohave County, Arizona on felony charges of setting up a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and 25-year-old man, among other charges.

More lawsuits followed, and Jeffs appeared on the FBI’s list of top 10 most wanted fugitives in 2006. By 2011, he had been sentenced to life in prison. Jeffs is believed to have had an estimated 80 wives, and his crimes are the subject of the Netflix documentary Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey.

Some FLDS members still believe Warren Jeffs is their prophet

Though the sect has lost hundreds of members since Jeffs' arrest, some officials have alleged that he may still control some of the group's activities from prison. Per ABC, one former FLDS member named Joe Broadbent claimed that members are still currently supposed to stop each hour of the day to pray that Jeffs will be released from prison. Additionally, some FLDS schools allegedly still teach that Jeffs is the President of the United States, according to former members of the sect.

Members of the FLDS face severe restrictions, especially women

Jeffs ruled over the FLDS with an iron fist, reportedly banning dogs, television, the Internet, and birthday and Christmas celebrations, among other things. Female members of the FLDS face even more stringent restrictions under his rule.

They must wear prairie dresses and cannot show any skin from the neck down, and are never allowed to cut their hair, as FLDS teachings reportedly claim that they will need it to wash men’s feet in heaven. Jeffs also controlled which members were allowed to have children and when.

Sam Bateman followed in Jeffs' footsteps

Bateman was an FLDS member who lived in Short Creek on the Utah-Arizona border. He began gathering followers in 2019, and by 2020, followers had started giving him their female children as child brides. He seemed to be attempting to start his own FLDS branch, which he called the Samuelite group. He told his followers Jeffs had died in prison and said he was now the group’s chosen prophet. 

Bateman was exposed by documentary maker and former cult victim Christine Marie

Christine Marie moved to Short Creek with her husband, Tolga Katas, in 2016. She first met Bateman when he was in the middle of a divorce and had been newly evicted. “He could never seem to make money […] He was looking for a lifeline,” she said of Bateman at the time.

Bateman soon reappeared with a new wife, and eventually Marie and Katas caught wind of whispers that he might be committing illegal acts. They began recording footage of Bateman under the guise of making a documentary that honored him, and Marie was eventually able to secretly record Bateman confessing to setting up the abuse of girls and women.

According to Marie, the FBI insisted she needed more evidence even with the recording, so finally she was able to persuade a female member of the group named Julia to open up about Bateman’s crimes and cruelty. Bateman was finally arrested in 2022 after girls and women were found in the trailer attached to his car during a traffic stop. In 2024, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

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