Where Is Everybody From 'Trust Me: The False Prophet' Now?

Content warning: This article references sexual assault.

When cult psychology expert Christine Marie arrived in Short Creek, Utah with her videographer husband Tolga Katas, they had one objective: To bring down a sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) headed up by Samuel Bateman, whom they believed was sexually abusing children. Bateman had taken up the mantle from the imprisoned Warren Jeffs and declared himself a prophet, coercing more than 20 women and children to marry him.

Marie and Katas ingratiated themselves into the community under the guise of making a documentary—not entirely false, though the filmmakers's focus was to gather incriminating evidence rather than create propaganda on behalf of Bateman. By the end, they had successfully partnered with the FBI to bring Bateman to justice, and a 2025 trial put him and a few of his most devout followers behind bars.

The footage from Marie and Katas's time in Bateman's circle has become the April 2026 Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet and features firsthand accounts from a few of the women who survived and escaped Bateman's polygamous sect. Ahead is a breakdown of where the key players of the true-crime docuseries are now.

Christine Marie and Tolga Katas

Even after successfully bringing down Bateman's enterprise and releasing this documentary, Marie and Katas don't feel like their work in the FLDS community is complete. They still live in Short Creek near the FLDS sect.

Marie does feel some closure, though, as she was able to accept Bateman's fate as a proxy for her own false prophet. “It was so validating for me to make sure that these girls and women were safe. Even the women who still believe in him are a hundred times safer with him not in the house,” she told Tudum. “He could never rape another girl again. There was a sense of closure for me.”

Julia Johnson

Julia had a front-row seat to the Bateman religious movement as the wife of Moroni Johnson, one of Bateman's biggest supporters, and mother to five of Bateman's wives (including Moretta). She played a pivotal role in bringing Bateman to justice when she began confiding in filmmakers Marie and Katas about what really happened behind closed doors in the Bateman compound, which helped aid the FBI investigation.

Following Bateman's arrest and the fallout in the FLDS community, Julia separated from her husband Moroni, who is currently serving time in jail for his involvement in the movement. Based on her appearances in the docuseries, she has not left the FLDS movement altogether, and two of her daughters remain followers of Bateman.

Moretta Johnson and Naomi “Nomz” Bistline

Two of Bateman's former wives and devout followers, Moretta Johnson and Naomi “Nomz” Bistline, served jail time for their roles in kidnapping the underage wives from a group home and shielding them from law enforcement. While in jail, both women found the isolation to be liberating, as they questioned the supreme authority and obedience that they had been taught. They ultimately became the only two adult wives to testify against Bateman in court.

Following their release, Moretta was reunited with her mother, Julia. “Her words are, ‘Prison set me free.’ It helped her get into a thought process of her own," Julia says in the documentary of her daughter's change of heart after a year of incarceration. According to Tudum, Moretta has entirely moved on from this chapter of her life: She left the community, got married, and started her own family.

Moretta also remains close to Nomz, who still lives in Short Creek but is hoping to start over. Trust Me: The False Prophet ends with images of her studying psychology in college in an effort to understand what happened to her. In this era of freedom, she's also exploring other hobbies like writing, art, fashion, and especially music. “Music helps me process things,” she told Tudum. “It helps me let it out.”

This experience has made Nomz question her faith, as she wonders how God could have let this happen to her. “I question everything now,” she said. But it's also brought her closer to Christine, whom she no longer views as Judas after realizing Christine's motivations. “The parallels of our stories were so similar," she told Tudum. "Since then, we’ve been really close friends. She’s a godmother to me, and Tolga’s a godfather. They’re the best people in my life sometimes.”

Samuel Bateman

In April 2024, Bateman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to kidnap. At the conclusion of his trial in 2025, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison, where he remains today.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that his power over the women in his community has gone away. “For whatever reason, the prison he’s in allows him to make as many calls as he wants,” docuseries director Dretzin told Tudum. “So he is in daily contact with his wives, which in some ways allows him to still have too much power because he’s now been ‘martyred.’ ”

Marie believes that cutting off this access is crucial for these women to begin thinking for themselves again—just like Moretta and Nomz did. “Once they break from him and from the other people who believe in him, then they can say, ‘Wait, maybe I'm not so certain. Maybe he did make all this up so that he could get money, power, and sex—like every other cult leader.’ ”

Moroni Johnson and brothers Torrance Bistline and LaDell Bistline

Bateman's most devout male followers, Moroni Johnson and brothers Torrance Bistline and LaDell Bistline, who all aided in handing over their wives and daughters for the "cause," are all currently serving time in jail. Johnson served three years of house arrest before beginning his 25-year sentence, while Torrance and LaDell are imprisoned for 35 years and life, respectively.