A woman believed to be one of the 20 wives of a polygamous sect leader jailed in Arizona faces federal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to child welfare workers in a bid to get her two daughters released from state foster care.
The indictment of Josephine Barlow Bistline marks the fourth woman associated with self-declared prophet Samuel Bateman to face federal charges. Three of Bateman’s wives were previously charged with kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution after eight girls associated with the sect fled from foster care.
