What Happened to Naomi “Nomz” Bistline After the Samuel Bateman Case?

Netflix’s Trust Me: The False Prophet exposed the shocking horrors inside Samuel Bateman’s group. Naomi “Nomz” Bistline now speaks publicly about what she experienced, and she is opening up about what her life looks like today.

Samuel was a self-proclaimed prophet who broke away from the FLDS world after Warren Jeffs’s imprisonment and built his own group in Short Creek. Federal prosecutors said Samuel led a years-long child sexual abuse conspiracy across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska. Naomi’s presence in the documentary has people wondering where she is now.

Naomi’s life looks completely different from when she was one of Samuel’s most loyal followers. She now focuses on music, art, writing, and studying psychology after serving 21 months in prison for her role in the case.

“I'm hoping to pursue a career in music,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I still do a lot of artwork, study psychology. I write tons of poems. It's the way I let things out, process things. But I mostly have been really focused on singing. It really helps me feel at peace a lot when I just sing it out.”

Naomi was around 19 when, by her account, her cousin and caretaker LaDell Bistline Jr. “gave” her to Samuel. She later became one of his spiritual wives and one of his most devoted followers. Looking back now, Naomi told Tudum that she was enamored by the false prophet.

“There was nothing compelling about him,” Nomz said. “Every one of us really hated him at first. And then he would break us down and make us into what he wanted. It was a lot of abuse and coercion.”

She says she still lives in the same area for the moment, but she no longer feels connected to that community and wants to leave when she can afford to.

Naomi was also criminally involved. After Samuel went to jail, she helped carry out a plan to remove eight girls from state custody and transport them out of Arizona, according to People. She later pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to tamper with an official proceeding. The court sentenced her to time served, totaling 21 months.

Samuel was hit with a slew of charges upon his arrest. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, his followers gave him minor daughters and wards as “child brides,” and some of the victims were as young as 9. Samuel pleaded guilty in April 2024 to conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and a federal judge sentenced him in December 2024 to 50 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release.

Prosecutors said Samuel used coercion and control to force girls into sexual abuse. He also moved victims across state lines. After his arrest, authorities placed several victims in the Arizona Department of Child Safety custody. Prosecutors said Samuel then coordinated with followers from jail to kidnap those girls from foster placements. The group took eight children to California and then Washington before law enforcement found them and returned them to Arizona.