Shivangi Sinha
Samuel Bateman was responsible for a range of serious crimes tied to his leadership of a breakaway polygamist sect, including offenses involving the exploitation of minors. However, he did not operate alone. Among those closely linked to him was Torrance Bistline, who became associated with the group around 2019 and played a key role in supporting and financing its activities. Bistline was later convicted of sex-related crimes connected to the group. Netflix’s ‘Trust Me: The False Prophet’ explores Bateman’s actions, the network around him, and the investigation that ultimately led to his arrest and prosecution.
Torrance Bistline Was Central to Financing the Lifestyle Sam Bateman Enjoyed
Torrance Bistline had grown up within the FLDS Church, and according to reports, he was banished from the group when he was a boy. He then went ahead to make a career for himself, building experience across construction, fabrication, and design industries. From May 2004 to September 2012, he worked at Atlanta Farms in Pioche, Nevada, as a farmer and metal fabricator. From September 2012 to May 2013, he was a welder/fitter at Fisher Industries in Dickinson, North Dakota, followed by a role as designer/fabricator at Oak Valley Inc. in Long Beach from May 2013 to November 2013, where he designed a tire shredding facility.
Between November 2013 and July 2014, he worked as a fusing technician at Petty Construction, and from September 2014 to December 2014, he operated heavy machinery at Berry Brothers Construction. From March 2015 to September 2018, he served as a lead operator at SpiderPlow Inc., performing utility installations for wind farms, solar farms, and pipelines. He then worked as a crew foreman at Water Transfer Solutions in Williston, North Dakota, while he started his own green energy company. In November 2017, he became the owner of Toro Industries. He had employed his brother, Ladell Bistline Jr., and Moroni Johnson as well.
In 2019, Torrance began engaging with Sam Bateman, who was proclaiming himself to be the next prophet of the FLDS Church. Within a brief period of time, he handed over his daughters, some of whom were minors, to Bateman as his “brides” and continued his ongoing support for him. Along with him, Ladell and Moroni also joined the group, and a significant portion of the profits from the company went into financing Bateman’s lifestyle, including luxury cars and whatever else he required. In March 2021, Torrance founded Toro Design and Manufacturing to produce the VelociWrapper for renewable energy projects and it was quite successful. In fact, in August 2022, when Bateman was arrested during a traffic stop on a highway in Flagstaff, Arizona, it was Torrance who posted his bail by paying $150,000 in cash and securing his release.
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Torrance Bistline is Being Held in Federal Custody in Illinois Today
There was an ongoing federal investigation into Sam Bateman, and he was arrested in September 2022. When police executed a search warrant at his residence, they uncovered substantial incriminating evidence of sexual abuse, which also implicated Torrance Bistline. Just days later, that same month, Torrance was arrested for being a key supporter of Bateman. He initially faced charges of conspiracy to commit child sexual abuse along with related offenses.
In October 2024, Torrance went on trial alongside his brother Ladell, where he was convicted on multiple counts, including using interstate commerce to coerce a minor into sexual activity, destruction of records in an official proceeding, conspiracy related to that destruction, and tampering with an official proceeding. Court evidence showed that he participated in the abuse of one of Bateman’s underage “brides” and later attempted to conceal and destroy evidence to obstruct the investigation. In April 2025, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is currently in federal custody at the Federal Correctional Institution in Pekin, Illinois, with a projected release date set for 2053.
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