KUER⁠0%

Polygamous leader Samuel Bateman convicted on charges tied to girls found in trailer ⁠14%

By Associated Press⁠60%

6/26/2026, 11:37:55 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Biased Writer Voice, and Representativeness Heuristic, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 27.2% saturation with 157 hits. Analysis detected 914 faulty-reasoning hits from 577 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 30.3% and a BS Rank of ⁠14% (18,923 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 86.50% of the article peer group.

A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona. 
Someone alerted authorities about the trailer in 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors. 
Police stopped Samuel Bateman's vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls inside, who were ages 11 to 14 at the time. 
The trailer was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs. 
In the federal case, Bateman was convicted of coercing girls as young as 9 to submit to sex acts with him and other young adults, and for scheming to kidnap girls from protective custody, the story of which is the focus of a Netflix series, “Trust Me: The False Prophet.” 
Bateman previously claimed to have more than 20 "spiritual wives," including 10 girls under the age of 18. 
He testified in his own defense in the state case, telling jurors he would never harm the people he loves. 
He acknowledged during cross-examination that he knew the girls were in a hot trailer for hours and the ventilation wasn't good. 
“I just trusted myself as a driver,” he said. 
“I ask God to bless me every time we hopped in that vehicle.” 
During closing arguments, prosecutor Eric Ruchensky told jurors, “It’s common sense that you don’t carry people in a trailer designed for cargo on a hot day with no ventilation." 
Jurors in the state case weren't supposed to hear about Bateman's conviction in federal court. 
The judge barred the evidence from being introduced. 
But Bateman brought it up several times as he represented himself, leading the judge to strike the comments from the record. 
The jury delivered the verdict Friday in about 40 minutes, convicting him on all three counts of child abuse. 
Each count carries a mandatory sentence of between four and eight years. 
The judge has discretion to run the counts consecutively or concurrently. 
A sentencing hearing is scheduled Aug. 
25. 
The Associated Press left a voicemail and email messages Friday for Bateman’s appointed advisory counsel. 
Federal authorities said Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet, traveled extensively between Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska as he built an offshoot network of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which historically has been based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. 
He and his followers practiced polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. 
Bateman was one of the trusted followers of Warren Jeffs, who previously led the sect and is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexual assault of children. 
The influence of the polygamous sect has waned significantly over time in the towns where the sect has historically been based. 
In 2017, a court order placed the towns under supervision, excising the church from their governments and shared police department. 
But the area has since transformed so quickly that they were released from court-ordered supervision last summer, almost two years earlier than expected. 
Practicing sect members are now believed to account for only a small percentage of the towns’ populations. 
This story was written by Jacques Billeaud and Josh Kelety of the Associated Press 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 5.0%Associated Press: 2.2%KUER: 2.8%Confirmation Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 8.3%Associated Press: 3.2%KUER: 3.4%Availability Heuristic8.3%This article: 11.1%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic11.1%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.6%KUER: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 3.6%Associated Press: 1.1%KUER: 1.9%Overconfidence Bias3.6%This article: 10.9%Associated Press: 7.1%KUER: 7.4%Framing Effect10.9%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.5%KUER: 1.3%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 5.7%Associated Press: 0.6%KUER: 1.2%Status Quo Bias5.7%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.3%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 4.0%Associated Press: 2.1%KUER: 4.4%Optimism Bias4.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 1.6%KUER: 2.4%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 27.2%Associated Press: 8.7%KUER: 6.3%Negativity Bias27.2%This article: 3.5%Associated Press: 2.0%KUER: 2.2%Self-Serving Bias3.5%This article: 6.4%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error6.4%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 1.0%KUER: 1.9%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.4%KUER: 0.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 4.9%Associated Press: 2.3%KUER: 2.3%Halo Effect4.9%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.1%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.0%KUER: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 3.3%Associated Press: 1.4%KUER: 1.2%Recency Bias3.3%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.3%KUER: 0.3%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.0%KUER: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 0.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 19.6%Associated Press: 3.4%KUER: 4.7%Appeal to Authority19.6%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 1.7%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.6%KUER: 1.1%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.0%KUER: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 2.9%Associated Press: 2.7%KUER: 4.1%Hasty Generalization2.9%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.4%KUER: 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 5.0%Associated Press: 4.7%KUER: 5.6%Appeal to Emotion5.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.6%KUER: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 4.0%Associated Press: 2.2%KUER: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)4.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.5%KUER: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 3.1%Associated Press: 1.7%KUER: 3.1%Anecdotal3.1%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 1.2%KUER: 1.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.0%KUER: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.2%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.0%KUER: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.1%KUER: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 1.6%Associated Press: 1.3%KUER: 0.8%Unattributed Quote1.6%This article: 2.3%Associated Press: 1.1%KUER: 0.7%Quote-first Misdirection2.3%This article: 15.1%Associated Press: 3.0%KUER: 2.2%Biased Writer Voice15.1%This article: 2.3%Associated Press: 0.7%KUER: 1.6%Indoctrination2.3%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.8%KUER: 0.8%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Associated Press: 0.2%KUER: 0.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 8.7%Associated Press: 0.4%KUER: 1.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…8.7%

577 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers21%attributed speech456writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 50 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageSamuel Bateman • 20 words • 0.0% coverageSamuel Bateman • 21 words • 0.0% coverageSamuel Bateman • 9 words • 100.0% coverageSamuel Bateman • 13 words • 100.0% coverageEric Ruchensky • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageAssociated Press • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 47 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageAssociated Press • 14 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Eric Ruchensky

100%flagged-word coverage
29 attributed words24% of attributed speech83% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Biased Writer Voice-19.1 ptsWriter: 19.1%Eric Ruchensky: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -11.0 ptsWriter: 11.0%Eric Ruchensky: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.