Here's a real winner. He got alot of people to follow him, too. So sad.
Evangelist Tony Alamo Found Guilty of Taking Young Girls From State to State for Sex
Friday, July 24, 2009
AP
July 14: Evangelist Tony Alamo is led from the federal courthouse in Texarkana, Ark., following opening statements in his trial.
Evangelist Tony Alamo was convicted Friday on federal charges he took little girls as young as 9 across state lines to have sex with them.
The jury issued its judgment in federal court in Texarkana, Ark. They found the 74-year-old Alamo guilty of all counts he faced.
Alamo had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against the church he led, called the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.
"I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S. marshal's vehicle.
His apocalyptic tracts outline his hatred of the Vatican and his feared "one-world government." The Southern Poverty Law Center considers his ministry a "cult."
Defense lawyers said the government targeted Alamo because it doesn't like his brand of Christianity.
Alamo was a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars.
Alamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional mutterings during testimony. His five victims sat looking forward in the gallery. One, a woman he "married" at age 8, wiped away a tear.
RELATED STORIES
- Evangelist Tony Alamo's Child Sex Trial Interrupted to Stop Him From Testifying
- Evangelist Tony Alamo Pledges to Testify Despite His Lawyer's Advice
- Ex-Follower: Evangelist Tony Alamo Asked, 'Think I'm a Dirty Old Man?'
- Alamo's 'Child Bride' Says Evangelist Leader Controlled All Aspects of Life
- Alamo's 'Child Bride' Says Evangelist Cut Up Racy Photos He Took of Her, Fears for Her Sister
- 'Child Bride' Says Sex With Pastor Began at Age 9
- Prosecutors Say Evangelist Had 8-Year-Old Bride
- Prosecutor: Jailed Evangelist Tony Alamo 'Married' Girls He Allegedly Sexually Abused
- 32 Children Seized From Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, Over Alleged Beatings, Sexual Abuse
- 74-Year-Old Minister Accused of Sexually Abusing Girls Since 1994
- Evangelist Tony Alamo Arraigned on Sex Charges
- Feds Bring Evangelist Tony Alamo Back to Arkansas to Face Sex Charges
- 4 Girls Taken From Evangelist Tony Alamo's Compound to Stay With State
- Arrested Evangelist Tony Alamo Says Sex With Teen Girls Is OK, Will Be Extradited
- Compound Leader Tony Alamo Arrested in Child Porn Probe
- Arkansas Official: Children Seized at Compound Were in Danger
- Kids Interviewed in Arkansas Church Sex Abuse Probe
- 6 Minors in Arkansas Custody After Raid on Evangelist's Compound
PHOTO ESSAYS
Shouts of "Bye, bye, Bernie" — Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman — came from a crowd gathered on the Arkansas side of the courthouse, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas border.
He faced a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines as early as 1994.
FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers raided Alamo's compound in southern Arkansas in September looking for child pornography. Agents arrested him five days later in Arizona.
Prosecutors also summoned the sister of a woman who still lives in the compound. The woman, 19, said her sister moved into Alamo's home at age 12 and later became one of his wives. She said she often heard Alamo refer to several woman as wives and saw them massaging Alamo's thighs, giggling and whispering in his ears.
She also said she helped prepare Alamo's tour bus for a November 2004 trip. The 17-year-old who testified Friday said she had sex with Alamo on the bus while she was underage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report