Arkansas evangelist, Tony Alamo, gets 175 years for child sex…

Preacher Tony Alamo had been accused of getting ‘married’ to young girls

AP News Friday the Thirteenth

TEXARKANA, Arkansas - A federal judge on Friday sentenced Evangelist Tony Alamo to 175 years in prison for child sex crimes.


Several of the child “wives” who helped convict evangelist Tony Alamo of federal sex charges took the witness stand during his sentencing hearing.

The 75-year-old leader of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries was convicted in July on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking young girls across state lines for sex.

After the jury’s decision, the apocalyptic preacher told reporters: “I’m just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel.”

In court filings, federal prosecutors said three of the women Alamo “married” at ages as young as eight had submitted written statements for Alamo’s sentencing report.

During the trial, Alamo’s child “brides” described how he “married” them in private ceremonies while they were minors, sometimes giving them wedding rings. Each detailed trips beyond Arkansas’ borders during which Alamo had sex with them.

With little physical evidence, prosecutors relied on the women’s stories to paint an emotional portrait of a charismatic religious leader who was in charge of every aspect of his subjects’ lives.

With defense witnesses, Alamo’s lawyers offered questions trying to show that the his trips out of state came from business, ministerial or personal reasons. Defense lawyers largely left the issue of Alamo having sex with the girls alone.

FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers had raided Alamo’s Fouke compound on Sept. 20, 2008, searching for evidence of the photos the evangelist took of the underage girls he abused. He was arrested five days later in Arizona.


IMHO
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Posted by David Pike on November 13, 2009.
Filed under: News