Netflix’s “Trust Me”: Woman who exposed Samuel Bateman talks about the new documentary

Four years ago, a Utah couple infiltrated a polygamous sect and helped bring down its leader, Samuel Bateman, who had sexually abused girls he had taken as “wives.”

Now, a new four-part Netflix documentary series shows viewers what it took for cult expert Christine Marie and her videographer husband, Tolga Katas, to expose a predator in Short Creek, the historic home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which spans two towns on the Utah-Arizona border.

The documentary, “Trust Me: The False Prophet,” reveals how the couple gained the trust of a breakaway sect led by Bateman. Marie and Katas suspected he was sexually abusing the young girls he called his wives — but the police lacked the evidence to act. So the couple began filming, hoping Bateman or his followers would reveal details about the abuse.

They did. And after the FBI gathered evidence from a disillusioned follower, Julia Johnson, authorities raided Bateman’s homes and arrested him. In 2024, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison after he admitted to sexually abusing his 10 child “wives,” the youngest of whom was 9 years old.

Marie spoke to The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday, the day the Netflix documentary was released, from a New York City hotel room. She was there with Naomi Bistline — a former Bateman wife and survivor who is known as Nomz — to promote the docuseries. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

How are you feeling with the documentary coming out today?

Just a mixture of emotions, but mostly positive, because I’m getting messages from around the world. And the thing that makes me the most happy is to see the outpouring of support for the victims of Sam Bateman.

It’s been a lot of people saying, “I thought I would just watch one episode. I ended up watching all four.” A lot of people saying they cried. A lot of people making very positive comments about me, about Nomz, about Julia and Tolga, and using the word “hero” a lot. We’ve had messages from Israel, Australia, Turkey, Ireland — and it’s still early on the first day.

(Netflix) “Trust Me: The False Prophet” debuted on Wednesday.

Have your FLDS friends, the people in your community, watched it?

They’re going to watch it with Tolga tonight. But what we did spread around was the CBS Morning promotional [segment], and the FLDS were all pretty darn happy about that.

What do you hope people will take away after watching this?

I hope they see themselves in it in some way. I hope they recognize predatorial power dynamics and what happens when systems allow predators to flourish. And that this kind of a dynamic where someone who is just the unquestionable authority can happen in any religion, in any social group or organization, in any city and in any country.

I hope they recognize what coercion is, and can see it. And I hope they get inspired by Julia because she faced great consequences to come forward and put a stop to it, as well as Nomz, who was the first one of his wives to speak out.

If people do relate, what’s your advice to them?

To consider the consequences, as I did, as Julia did, as Nomz did, and even if there are consequences, to do it anyway. Choose what is right. Be the one to stand up, even if you’re going to face opposition and heartache.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Julia Johnson photographed in Short Creek in 2017.

It’s striking to see all of the footage that you had, and how much you were filming over that time. Were you nervous about giving that over to filmmaker Rachel Dretzin?

It was a complicated process and decision to entrust the whole project to someone else. We were doing a different project, and this new project became too big and too intense with us being at the center.

What we had originally planned was just kind of a glimpse into the FLDS world from a neutral point of view. And we put that aside for the moment and decided this story was going to be made into a documentary. A lot of people were contacting us. It was not an easy decision to even do this, to be involved in this — but Rachel was the right person.

Not only was she as victim sensitive as we hoped, but she really listened and she stayed the course with the survivors. It wasn’t like, “Let’s get this story and run.” [It was,] “We are there for them all the way.”

We wanted to create a “dream fund” for the survivors of Sam Bateman to bring some joy into their lives. I wrote [on the website]: If you have recently seen the new docuseries called, “Trust Me, the False Prophet,” you know that the survivors of Samuel Bateman have been through unthinkable experiences.

For those of you who wish to help these women and children, this fundraiser is just for them. Imagine how happy they would be to have money to move to a new house — this is a real need of somebody — put a down payment on a car, take a trip to Disney World, take voice lessons, pay for tuition, get extra therapy if needed, or even just buy some new clothes.

So our goal is to raise $100,000 for these survivors. I’m dreaming of coming up with $5,000 for each one of the survivors, and that’s something they could really do something with. And even if it just ends up $500, for people that are struggling, that means the world to them.

Are you still in contact with the victims? How are they doing?

I’ve got one in the room. Come here! [Marie panned her video camera to Nomz, who waved.]

The good news is that the underage girls still hate Sam. And Nomz and Moretta, who were the only two of his adult wives to testify against him, they are staying strong.

Just take Nomz for an example, she is rocking it. She’s taking serious vocal lessons. She’s studying psychology. She’s learning a lot about the world of media and social media, and she’s going to be a great influence in this world. She’s doing incredible.

What about you? Are you and your husband still filming in Short Creek or have the cameras been put down for a little while?

My husband never puts the camera down. If you come to our house, you’re going to see him in the yard videoing the chickens. We have so much video of our chickens and our donkey, and he’s just always testing his new filter, his new lens, something or other, and he does a lot of photography and video still.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tolga Katas photographs Christine Marie with several fundamentalist women in Colorado City, Arizona, in May of 2025. A photograph from the session is the poster image for the upcoming documentary “Trust Me.”

You’re still living in Short Creek. Are you going to stay there, or what’s next?

I love the town. The town is a very extraordinary place to live. Even though this happened, it’s really a beautiful small town where people care about each other, and there’s a lot of love, and I intend to stay here for the rest of my life.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Christine Marie in Colorado City, Arizona, in 2024.

Read The Tribune’s reporting on this case:

A Utah couple infiltrated a new polygamous sect and helped put its abusive leader behind bars. Read Part 1.

The FBI raided their homes and arrested their prophet. Then the polygamous group found out who the informants were. Read part 2.

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