Arizona man charged after girls found in enclosed trailer

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A leader of a small polygamous group on the Arizona-Utah line pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges of tampering with evidence, weeks after being stopped on a highway with young girls in an enclosed trailer. Bateman was once among the trusted followers of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, but Jeffs recently denounced Bateman in a written revelation sent to his followers from prison, Brower said. Bateman’s group still practices plural marriage with a small following of fewer than 100 people, estimated Brower, who wrote a book on the FLDS and appeared in the recent Netflix series, “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey.” Federal prosecutor Patrick Schneider said Bateman talked to supporters in Colorado City, Arizona, from the Coconino County Jail in Flagstaff and instructed them to delete communications sent through an encrypted private messaging system, and demanded all women and girls obtain passports. Schneider said the state child welfare agency has removed children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City where the FBI had recently served a search warrant. Bateman listed a mailing address in Colorado City, where a patchwork of devout members of the polygamous FLDS, ex-church members and those who don’t practice the beliefs live.