PHOENIX — A federal jury in Phoenix has convicted two brothers for participating in the abuse of children connected to Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed leader of a polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border.
LaDell J. Bistline, Jr., 45 and Torrance Bistline, 36, both of Colorado City, were found guilty of various charges related to a years-long conspiracy involving the victimization of at least 10 children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Arizona.
The Bistline brothers were followers of Bateman, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to commit kidnapping in a plan to free underage girls who had been taken into Arizona state custody…