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Church compound quiet after child porn raid

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hurrikayne:
FOUKE, Ark. - A 15-acre church compound was quiet Sunday morning following a raid by federal and state law enforcement officers as part of a child-abuse and pornography investigation. A prosecutor said an arrest warrant was likely.

A man at the gate of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries turned away an Associated Press reporter Sunday morning. He refused to give his name and said no one was available to comment.

Police said the church complex would be allowed to open for Sunday services.

More than 100 state officers and FBI agents hit the compound Saturday in a raid that ministry leader and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo claimed in a telephone interview was part of a federal push to legalize same-sex marriage while outlawing polygamy.

Prosecutors once labeled Alamo as a polygamist who preys on girls and women.

Mayor Terry Purvis said he watched as the left around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. He said authorities did not tell him what they found.

"In an investigation like this, they're pretty lip-locked," Purvis said.

U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe did not respond to a call seeking comment Sunday.

The raid started an hour before sunset at the complex in tiny Fouke, in southwestern Arkansas. Armed guards regularly patrol the headquarters, but there was no resistance as agents moved in, state police said.

No one was arrested, but U.S. Attorney Bob Balfe said before the raid that he expected an arrest warrant for Alamo to be issued later. The federal investigation centered on the production of child pornography, while state police were looking into allegations of other child abuse, he said.

Social workers interviewed children who live at the complex, which critics call a cult. A two-year investigation involves a law that prohibits the transportation of children across state lines for criminal activity, said Tom Browne, who runs the FBI office in Little Rock.

In a phone call to The Associated Press from a friend's house in the Los Angeles area, Alamo — who was also once accused of child abuse — denied involvement in pornography.

"We don't go into pornography; nobody in the church is into that," said Alamo, 73. "Where do these allegations stem from? The anti-Christ government. The Catholics don't like me because I have cut their congregation in half. They hate true Christianity."

Alamo and his wife Susan were street preachers along Hollywood's Sunset Strip in 1966 before forming a commune near Saugus, Calif. Susan Alamo died of cancer in 1982 and Alamo claimed she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while their followers prayed.

In 1988, following a raid near Santa Ana, Calif., three boys whose mothers were Alamo followers were placed in the custody of their fathers. Justin Miller, then 11, told police that Alamo directed four men to strike him 140 times with a wooden paddle as punishment for minor offenses. Alamo was later charged with child abuse but prosecutors dropped the charge, citing a lack of evidence.

Alamo was convicted of tax-related charges in 1994 after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million. He served four years in prison.

Prosecutors in the tax case argued before sentencing that Alamo was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on married women and girls in his congregation.

___

Associated Press writer Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080921/ap_on_re_us/evangelist_child_porn

wdtony:
A cult leader that has apparently been around a long time. I hope they finally lock this guy up.

Ursus:
My my...This guy seems familiar. Thought he was (still) in California. I think he kind of identifies with -- or at least strongly sympathizes with -- the Branch Davidians. Kind of a cheeseball Elvis-impersonator type in his youth... Man, THIS is a time when it r-e-a-l-l-y hurts me that I can't post pics!! Jeezz... :D

Here's a link to get you started, and it's even up to date, lol! Bernie Hoffman was apparently his given name, if that rings a bell with any other old-timers.

If only it got no worse than this:

Together, the couple established the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969 in Hollywood, California.[7] They also manufactured and successfully sold a line of "Tony Alamo" brand sequined denim jackets, a business that would eventually land Tony in prison for tax evasion.[9] One strange aspect of denim jacket business was that Tony would sometimes be photographed with his celebrity jacket recipients - even while he was on the lam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Alamo[/list]

Ursus:
Interesting that they picked his 74th birthday to raid the compound... Some present that turned out to be, ha ha!

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FBI arrests pastor Tony Alamo in Arizona
From the Associated Press
September 26, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. -- FBI agents arrested evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo at an Arizona motel Thursday, alleging that he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes.

Alamo was staying at a hotel in Flagstaff, Ariz., when arrested, said FBI spokesman Steve Frazier in Little Rock. The arrest came days after the FBI raided the Arkansas headquarters of his ministry.

The religious leader -- who began his career as a California street preacher in 1966 -- was scheduled for a federal court appearance in Flagstaff today.

Alamo is suspected of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking children across state lines for illegal purposes. Frazier described those purposes as "sexual activity."

Several women were traveling with Alamo when he was arrested, but no minors were with him, police said. Authorities did not say when minors were alleged to have been taken across state lines or which states were involved. Alamo has ministries in California and Arkansas.

Federal agents and Arkansas state police had raided the headquarters of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in Fouke, Ark., on Saturday and removed six girls ages 10 to 17. They sought evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex.

Prosecutors sought Alamo's arrest after interviewing the girls this week, but Frazier would not disclose what the children said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, describes the ministry as a cult. Alamo's church rails against homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government, and Alamo has preached that girls are fit for marriage once they are sexually mature.

"Consent is puberty," he said in an interview with the Associated Press last week from a telephone registered in the Los Angeles area while agents raided the compound. He denied any involvement with pornography.

An Arkansas judge set hearings for today and Monday on whether the state Department of Human Services can keep custody of the six girls. The girls will attend the hearings.

FBI agents and police in Arizona arrested Alamo as he was leaving the Little America Hotel, which is along Interstate 40, Frazier said. It wasn't known where Alamo was headed when he was picked up.

The hotel bills itself as a luxury resort. Hotel spokesman Fred Reese declined to comment.

Alamo and wife Susan were street preachers in Los Angeles before forming a commune near Saugus. She died of cancer in 1982; he claimed she would be resurrected, and he kept her body on display for six months while followers prayed.

Alamo was convicted on tax-related charges in 1994 and served four years in prison after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million. Prosecutors in that case argued that Alamo was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on girls and married women in his congregation.

FBI documents identified Alamo by his birth name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman, and said he turned 74 the day of the raid.

Ursus:
And one more. Couldn't resist the Bill Clinton quotes.

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Evangelist Tony Alamo faces federal charges of transporting minors over state lines for sex
By JON GAMBRELL

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo says when it comes to sex, "consent is puberty" and there's a mandate in the Bible for girls marrying young.

"In the Bible it happened. But girls today, I don't marry 'em if they want to at 14-15 years old," Alamo said after federal agents raided his southwestern Arkansas compound Monday and placed six girls into state custody. "We won't do it, even though I believe it's OK."

But authorities don't believe it's OK — and now Alamo faces charges he transported children across state lines for sexual activities, in violation of the Mann Act. And so once again, the one-time rock promoter and street preacher that former President Clinton likened to "Roy Orbison on speed" will return to federal court.

Alamo is likely to appear Friday in federal court in Flagstaff, Ariz., where federal agents and local police arrested him outside of a mountainside resort. Police officials said there were several women traveling with Alamo when agents arrested him, but none were minors.

Authorities did not say when minors were taken across state lines or which states were involved, but Alamo has ministries in California and Arkansas.

FBI documents identified Alamo by his birth name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman. Alamo has said he was born Jewish but converted to Christianity.

He turned 74 the day federal agents and Arkansas state police had raided the Fouke headquarters of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries on Saturday. Officials removed six girls ages 10 to 17 from the compound and sought evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex.

Prosecutors sought Alamo's arrest after interviewing the girls this week, but Little Rock FBI spokesman Steve Frazier would not disclose what the children said. He said the affidavit describing the FBI's evidence against Alamo would remain under seal even after Alamo's initial court appearance.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, describes the ministry as a cult. Alamo's church rails against homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government, and Alamo has preached that girls are fit for marriage once they are sexually mature.

"Consent is puberty," he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press last week from a telephone number registered near Los Angeles while agents raided the compound. He denied any involvement with pornography.

An Arkansas judge has hearings set for Friday and Monday on whether the state Department of Human Services can keep custody of the six girls. The girls will attend the hearings.

"We will transport them to and from hearings. We will take part in any future hearings," agency spokeswoman Julie Munsell said. "Our job right now is to basically take care of them."

State Circuit Judge Jim Hudson said two hearings would be conducted Friday and the other four Monday in Texarkana.

The six hearings will be split among three judges who will decide whether the state had enough evidence to temporarily remove the children from their homes on the Fouke compound. If a judge rules against the state, the girls would be returned to the parents.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said that no further arrests were planned that would involve his agency.

Alamo and his late wife Susan were street preachers in Los Angeles before forming a commune near Saugus, Calif. Susan Alamo died of cancer in 1982; Alamo claimed she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while followers prayed.

Alamo was convicted of tax-related charges in 1994 and served four years in prison after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million. Prosecutors in that case argued that Alamo was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on married women and girls in his congregation.

Since establishing his ministries in Arkansas, Alamo has been a controversial and flamboyant figure in the state. Snapshots often show him wearing large dark sunglasses, and he recently said he is legally blind.

In his autobiography, "My Life," former President Bill Clinton, an Arkansas native, described Alamo recalled traveling in 1975 to see Dolly Parton sing at Alamo's compound in the town of Alma.

Remembering the fiasco after Susan Alamo's death, Clinton wrote: "A couple of years later, he got involved with a younger woman. Lo and behold, God spoke to him again and told him Susan wasn't coming back after all, so he took her out of the glass box and buried her."

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