The False Prophet Problem
When Rescue Narratives Recreate the Systems They Oppose
There is a moral hazard connected to the survivor-turned-advocate persona, and Netflix’s new four-part docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet unwittingly showcases its complications. Directed by Rachel Dretzin (Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey), the series chronicles how cult researcher and trauma survivor Christine Marie embedded herself inside a breakaway Fundamentalist LDS sect in Short Creek, Utah, gathering evidence against its self-proclaimed prophet, Samuel Rappylee Bateman, and eventually working as an FBI informant. Bateman was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison in 2024 for conspiracy charges related to the trafficking and sexual abuse of women and girls — some as young as nine years old. The outcome is unambiguous, but the methods that produced it are considerably murkier.
