A new Netflix documentary, Trust Me: The False Prophet, examines the shocking and heartbreaking polygamist sect led by Samuel Bateman, a man who had over twenty ‘spiritual wives’ including ten underage girls. The four-parter details how documentary makers Christine Marie and her husband, Tolga Katas, stealthily gathered evidence on Bateman’s sex trafficking and abusive ways.
It also features Naomi, one of Bateman’s former wives and arguably one of the most dedicated, who was coerced into marrying the false Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) prophet by her cousin.
This is who Naomi from Trust Me: The False Prophet is and where she is today, having boldly escaped her abuser and the FLDS community.
Who is Sam Bateman’s former wife, Naomi?
Naomi is the name of one young woman lured in by Bateman and her male family members while in her early twenties, also nicknamed ‘Nomz’, and who became his thirteenth wife. Raised in the Mormon community, Naomi fell into the cult of Bateman after becoming harassed and worn down by him.
According to one of Naomi's family members, she was mentally exhausted by the time she married Bateman, who told Naomi: "Heavenly Father impressed me to tell you that you belong to my family".
“She only thinks what he’s planted in there, she doesn’t have a mind of her own anymore,” Netty, Naomi’s cousin, adds.
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In the documentary, Naomi initially says she "went stone cold [...] I was like this has to be right, if it’s not right what is? I would like to know. I have lived my entire life not knowing what right is [...] The only thing I regret is that I didn’t go [to Sam] sooner.”
When asked by Marie how her life has changed since becoming a follower of Bateman (while still in the cult), she replies, “What more could a girl ask for but just to belong somewhere?”
Naomi also featured in a video that Bateman made with Marie and Katas, that they planned to post on YouTube in the hopes of enticing the late Queen Elizabeth II into joining their community as a spiritual wife. The wives, some of whom were clearly underage, were also featured singing in the video – which Marie submitted to the FBI as part of the evidence she’d been gathering for over a year that he was abusing multiple women and girls.
How did Naomi escape Sam Bateman?
On 28 August 2022, Bateman was caught driving with multiple women and girls in the trailer of his truck by police. Naomi was in the truck at the time police pulled them over and tried to defend Bateman to police, “You have to let him go!” she implored, and told the other women and girls not to speak with the officers.
“In our minds, we’re like celebrities [for choosing to live a life totally dedicated to God],” Naomi later tells the camera.
Around a month later, the FBI raided her and Bateman’s home, rescuing the women and girls inside. “I remember feeling like something was weird [that day],” Naomi said. “I was in the shower when I heard the [FBI’s] speakers [saying the home was surrounded].
“I was one of the first ones that went out, there was a line of FBI agents. They had patted us down, took our phones and everything, and started interviewing [us]. In the interview, I lied. I lied a lot.”
The women and girls were separated, with the children taken by state services, and Naomi later evaded capture from eight police officers, after being caught trying to retrieve the minors (on Bateman’s orders from prison). After hiding out for a night, she turned herself in.
Naomi spent 21 months in prison, which is where she began questioning her own beliefs and whether or not she’d been duped by Bateman (and inadvertently, by her parents who raised her in the Mormon community). It was here that she says she had an awakening and realised she was not in love with Bateman, but was actually just blinded by fear and had been raised in lies.
“[Looking back, it feels like I was] an entirely different person. It’s very disturbing, beyond what anybody could fathom,” Naomi says sadly.
Where is Naomi from Trust Me: The False Prophet now?
After breaking free from Bateman and FLDS, Naomi is now relishing in living a free life, studying psychology in college, and openly posts about her fresh start on social media. She has been able to travel and experience things she never thought possible, including modelling for Katas, and participating in the Netflix documentary about the long process it took to bring her abuser down.
“I believed he was my only way to heaven, back to God, if he held the keys to my salvation anything I did would damn me if he didn’t approve of it,” Naomi says in Trust Me. “So I was going to be submissive, obedient, the perfect wife. I became a master at gaging how he wanted me to respond.”
On 4 September 2025, Naomi posted to her Instagram account: “One year ago today, I walked out of the courthouse with no clear picture of what my future held. I was terrified, uncertain, and felt like I had lived a life smashed into submission in some way. Dreaming big was impossible at the time. But the moment I began to take small steps and try new things, and the more freedom I felt, the more I wanted.
“This past year has been nothing short of transformation. I’ve been in awe of how much there is to experience, how much I’ve changed, and how far I’ve come. It has been a journey of healing, allowing myself to feel everything I am going through: happiness, sadness, love, anger, laughter, disappointment, accomplishment, rejection, and acceptance… it’s truly liberating.”
She added that in just twelve months she has visited multiple states in the USA and has made new friends, as well as reconnected with old ones. “I’ve stepped into new experiences, pushed past fears, and uncovered potential I didn’t know I had.”
Trust Me: The False Prophet is available on Netflix now
