Man who financed FLDS cult leader sentenced in Arizona child sex trafficking case

Arizona Republic/April 28, 2025

By Miguel TorresMiguel Torres

The founder of a Utah equipment manufacturer that generated an estimated $2 million in annual revenue was sentenced to 35 years in prison on April 28 for aiding self-proclaimed cult leader Samuel Bateman in transporting children for sex acts in Arizona.

Torrance Bistline, 36, and his brother, LaDell Bistline, 46, were found guilty in 2024 for participating in a yearlong child sex abuse conspiracy that crossed state lines and involved at least 10 children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“You helped make it possible for him (Bateman) to sexually abuse all these girls, and you yourself raped one of the girls, a child,” U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich said at Bistline's sentencing.

Brnovich said that Bistline, in a statement he read to the court, did not show any real remorse for what he did to the girl.

"I am sorry for any harm that I've caused to others," Bistline said before he was sentenced. "I assure you and them that it was not my intention."

At trial, prosecutors argued that Bistline was Bateman's main financier.

“LaDell Bistline had the girls and women. Torrance Bistline had the money,” federal prosecutor Dimitra Sampson said during the trial.

At sentencing, Sampson said Bistline moved across state lines to participate in Bateman's religious cult.

Bistline and his brother became followers of Bateman, who proclaimed himself a prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and through his role as a religious leader raped women and underage girls.

"He helped make Sam Bateman successful, and this was not out of benevolence or deference — it was to satisfy his own selfish desires," Sampson said.

She played an audio recording of Bistline referring to Bateman as "father."

"I think they're so certain that somehow father has some kind of control over us, but the thing they don't know is it has nothing to do with it," Bistline said in the recording.

Bistline's attorney, Diego Rodriguez, contended that his client had been a successful member of society and a businessman, but when he got involved with Bateman, everything started to "spiral out of control."

"He created enough jobs to support several individuals and their families," Rodriguez said. "He does accept the verdict of the jury. Hindsight is always 2020 to be certain."

Rodriguez asked the judge to sentence Bistline to 11 years and 8 months in prison.

"An 11-year sentence plus some change does not meet the ends of justice in this case," said Sampson, who asked the court instead to sentence Bistline to 35 years or more.

Brnovich sentenced him to 35 years for using interstate travel to persuade a minor to engage in sex, and 20 years for all his other counts, to be served concurrently.

Bateman gathered followers and made women and underage girls his wives between 2019 and 2022. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transport a minor for sex and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

LaDell Bistline was sentenced in February to 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 the founder and creator of VelociWrapper, a renewable energy equipment company that operates out of Hildale, Utah. He was also the owner of Toro Design and Manufacturing, which was estimated to have made $2 million in annual sales revenue according to a list of Utah companies published by the business data firm Dun & Bradstreet.

According to court records, he gave Bateman gifts, including luxury cars, and paid $215,000 in legal fees.

During his trial, witnesses accused him of raping an underage girl when Bateman commanded the then-13-year-old to “be with Torrance." Witnesses also said that Torrance Bistline watched videos of Bateman sexually abusing the women and girls.

A jury found Torrance Bistline guilty of 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.

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