The last man to be sentenced for aiding cult leader Samuel Bateman with transporting children for sex acts in Arizona wept as he accepted responsibility for handing over his wives and underage daughters to the self-proclaimed prophet who sexually abused them.
Moroni Johnson, 54, pled guilty in March to conspiring to transport a minor for sexual activity. On May 12, a federal judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
“I fed my children to the lions,” Johnson told the courtroom, voice shaking. “I sacrificed everything I valued in my life to assist someone in destroying the ones I loved.”
Johnson became a follower of Bateman in 2020, eventually giving away four adult wives, two adult daughters and six underage daughters to the man he believed to be a prophet. He said Bateman targeted him specifically because of his daughters.
During sentencing, Johnson broke down repeatedly as he read from a written statement. “I know the impact of my actions will be lifelong, and no children deserve this,” he said. “I stand by my guilty plea.”
Victimized daughters speak at Moroni Johnson's sentencing hearing
Two of Johnson’s daughters, both underage victims in the case, spoke at the hearing.
The second daughter spoke about the way her father twisted the natural bond between a father and daughter into something dehumanizing.
“Belonging is supposed to be rooted in dignity and love,” she said. “But what he gave me was the belonging of property.”
“I'm here for the 9-year-old girl who wanted to believe that her dad was right, that he would always do anything and everything he could to protect her, only to turn around and find that he knowingly gave her to a man who tried to ruin her life,” one of the daughters said.
She said she was also there for her 5-year-old sister. “She’s still being taught to trust her father, no questions asked,” she said.
She told the court her father used her and her siblings like assets, objects to repay a spiritual debt. “I forgive you this time,” she said. “But I do not forget.”
“I love you. So I want to say one more thing. Though you face earthly judgment today, there is an eternal judgment that I am far more concerned about,” she said to Johnson.
”God will one day judge every sin — your sins and mine,” she said. “This God of justice is also a God of mercy. ... By his grace, I have come to know that forgiveness, and I want you to know it too.”
The Arizona Republic typically does not name victims of sexual abuse.
Johnson 'stood back and watched' as daughters were 'devoured,' prosecutor says
Federal prosecutor Ryan Powell agreed that Johnson fed his daughter to the lions.
“He absolutely did, then stood back and watched as they were devoured,” he said.
Johnson’s early cooperation in 2022 helped lay the foundation for the case against Bateman and others, Powell said. Nevertheless, he urged a 20-year sentence, saying Bateman would not have been able to hurt so many women and children without Johnson.
Powell said Johnson had drifted from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doctrine before he and others found validation in Bateman.
“They needed a new prophet, and that's why this started, and that's how Samuel Bateman was put in place,” Powell said.
Johnson’s attorney, William Atkins, asked for a lighter sentence, between 10 and 15 years, pointing to his client’s remorse and early cooperation.
“In no way do we want to minimize the effect of his behavior,” Atkins said. “He knows it’s not enough to change the past, but he does acknowledge it.”
Life sentence would have been appropriate, judge says
Johnson was the third man sentenced in connection with Bateman’s crimes.
Judge Susan Brnovich said Johnson was the only one among the male defendants to show true remorse, but that did not erase the gravity of what he did.
LaDell Bistline received life in prison for transporting minors for sex, receiving child pornography, giving obscene material to a minor, coercing someone to travel for sex and using interstate travel to persuade minors to have sex.
Torrance Bistline was sentenced to 35 years for coercing a minor using interstate commerce, destroying records, conspiring to destroy records, tampering with an official proceeding and conspiring to tamper with an official proceeding.
Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in prison for conspiracy to transport a minor for sex and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
In some ways, Johnson helped start the chain of events that would lead to 10 underage girls being sexually abused for two years, she said.
“He did nothing to protect the girls until Samuel Bateman was arrested,” Brnovich said.
She said a life sentence for Johnson would have been justified. Instead, she chose 25 years, citing his remorse and cooperation.
Who is Samuel Bateman?
Bateman, a former machinist who later worked as a real estate agent and motivational speaker, lived with his wife and daughter in Colorado City, a town on the Utah border. In 2019, he began calling himself a prophet and told his wife he had gotten messages from God to marry his own daughter, according to court records.
“You do seem to acknowledge sincerely what was done and how horrible it was,” she said. “But you were in the role of a parent, a caretaker and a leader in the community, all positions of trust, and you violated that trust repeatedly."
In the same year, he began amassing a following and, according to court records, took the wives and daughters of his followers as his own wives.
During that time, he stopped working and relied on money from his followers and “wives,” the filings stated. The records also noted that Bateman used those funds to purchase luxury Bentleys.
By 2022, his followers numbered about 50, and he had 22 wives, 10 of whom he took while they were minors.
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