This undated photo made available by Tony Alamo Christian Ministries shows Tony Alamo and his wife Susan. (AP Photo/Tony Alamo Christian Ministries)
FBI: Evangelist Alamo arrested in child sex probe
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — FBI agents and Arizona police on Thursday arrested evangelist Tony Alamo at a resort near Flagstaff, alleging he transported minors across state lines for sexual purposes.
Federal agents and state police had raided Alamo's Arkansas compound on Saturday and removed six girls from the home. After police and social workers interviewed the girls this week, prosecutors sought Alamo's arrest. FBI spokesman Steve Frazier in Little Rock would not disclose what the children said.
Frazier said Alamo was staying at the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Ariz., when arrested. The evangelist — who began his career as a California street preacher in 1966 — was scheduled for a federal court appearance Friday in Flagstaff.
"He has to have an initial apperance before I can say a whole lot," Frazier said. He said he did not believe children were with Alamo at the time of the arrest.
Agents arrested Alamo on charges that he violated the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting children across state lines for illegal purposes. Frazier described the illegal purposes as "sexual activity."
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, describes the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as a cult, as do many of the church's former members. As a group, Alamo's church despises homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government; 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 while agents raided his compound at Fouke.
The Little America Hotel, in Arizona's northern mountains near the Grand Canyon, bills itself as a luxury resort. Fred Reese, a spokesman for the hotel, declined to comment and referred all questions to the FBI.
The Arkansas raid had been scheduled for October but was moved up because a Justice Department employee inadvertantly notified Arkansas media about the investigation. While the FBI checked Alamo's property for evidence of child pornography, state officials went in to investigate other claims of child abuse.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said that, as of Thursday night, no further arrests were planned that would involve his agency.
An Arkansas judge has hearings set for Friday and Monday on whether the state Department of Human Services can maintain custody of the six girls taken from the compound during the state and federal raid. The girls will attend the hearings.
"We will transport them to and from hearings. We will take part in any future hearings," DHS spokeswoman Julie Munsell said. "Our job right now is to basically take care of them."
Circuit Judge Jim Hudson said two hearings would be conducted Friday and the other four are set for Monday in Texarkana. The girls, ranging in age from 10 to 17, all have been identified through police investigation and birth certificates, state officials said.
Neither Hudson nor Munsell would disclose what the girls told investigators or state aid workers.
State and federal agents raided Alamo's Fouke compound Saturday night, searching for evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex.
The six hearings will be split among three circuit judges serving Miller County. Judges will decide whether the state had enough evidence to warrant temporarily removing the children from their homes. If a judge rules against the state, the girls would be returned to her parents.
Hudson said all hearings, testimony and documents will be sealed because the cases involve juveniles — though he said he would announce a summary of his actions without naming the children.
According to Frazier, FBI agents and local and state police in Arizona arrested Alamo as he was leaving the hotel, which is located along cross-country Interstate 40. When the AP interviewed him Saturday and Monday, Alamo called from telephone numbers registered in the Los Angeles area.
Frazier said it wasn't known where Alamo was headed when he was picked up.
Alamo and his late wife Susan were street preachers along Hollywood's Sunset Strip 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 their followers prayed.
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.
Since establishing his ministries in Arkansas, Alamo has been both a controversial and flamboyant figure in the state. Snapshots often show Alamo wearing large dark sunglasses, as he recently said he's become legally blind as he's aged.
In his autobiography, "My Life," former President Clinton described Alamo as "Roy Orbison on speed."
Clinton recalled traveling to Alma in 1975 to see Dolly Parton sing at Alamo's compound, when Alamo's wife Susan was still alive. Remembering the fiasco after Susan Alamo's death, Clinton wrote: "A couple of years later, he (Alamo) 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."
FBI documents identified Alamo by his birth name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman, who turned 74 the day of the raid. Alamo has said he was born a Jew but converted to Christianity.
Controversial evangelist leader Tony Alamo was arrested in Flagstaff, Arizona Thursday and faces charges related to child sex abuse allegations at the Tony Alamo Christian Ministry organization. Alamo has previously been convicted on charges of tax evasion. United States federal agents raided Alamo's compound in Arkansas on Saturday and six girls were taken into state custody.

Tony Alamo in 1986
Law enforcement officials raided Alamo's compound in Fouke, Arkansas on Saturday and removed six girls aged 10 to 17. Over 100 federal and state agents participated in the raid on the compound, which followed a two-year investigation into Alamo and his organization. 

Law enforcement officials were searching for evidence that minors had been videotaped performing sexual activities or had been molested. The Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Alamo's property for child pornography. Alamo, who claims he is legally blind and wouldn't be able to see child pornography, preaches that girls should marry young and sex with post-puberty girls is 'okay' because "in the Bible it happened".


"It's the transportation of minors with the intent to engage in criminal activity. The state concerns are children living at the facility may have been sexually and physically abused," said Little Rock, Arkansas FBI representative Tom Browne in a statement to KABC-TV.

The Associated Press (AP) has reported that Alamo will likely appear in federal court Friday in Flagstaff, Arizona, on charges that he violated the Mann Act by facilitating transport of minors across state lines for inappropriate sexual conduct. Documents produced by the FBI referred to Alamo by his birth name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman. Alamo has stated that he was born into Judaism but later converted to Christianity. According to the FBI, Alamo's court appearance Friday is intended to determine when he will be transported from Arizona back to Arkansas to face charges there.


Hearings have been scheduled for Friday and Monday by a state judge, to decide if the Department of Human Services of Arkansas can retain custody of the six girls. "We will transport them to and from hearings. We will take part in any future hearings. Our job right now is to basically take care of them," said agency representative Julie Munsell in a statement reported to the AP. The six girls will be present at the hearings in Arkansas: hearings for two of the girls will take place Friday and hearings for the other four on Monday. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization which maintains data on hate groups, has described Alamo's organization as a "cult". ''The Ross Institute Internet Archives for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements'' maintains a web page on Tony Alamo and his organization. AP reported that many former members of Alamo's organization also characterize the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as a "cult".


Anna Pugh, a former member of the organization for 11 years, recounted some of her experiences in what she referred to as "Tony's Cult" to KOCO-TV. She stated that while she was living at Alamo's compound she felt she was brainwashed. Pugh says that while she was a member of the group a seven-year-old girl took her aside and told her Alamo had sexual conduct with minors while watching pornography. "I think that congregation in there needs to see what that man is. He is a monster. He is a very unmerciful, malicious, vindictive, judgemental, condemning person," said Pugh. 

Former member Anthony Lane told KSLA-TV he was kicked out of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries when he questioned some of Alamo's teachings. "He is definitely a man who arranges marriages of little girls, and orders beatings of little children," said Lane. He has been getting help from a support group called Partnered against Cult Activities (PACA). Lane is trying to gain custody of his three children who are still in the group with his wife. 

Alamo was convicted of tax evasion in 1994, and was released from prison in 1998 after serving four years out of a six year sentence. The Internal Revenue Service said Alamo owed the U.S. government US$7.9 million. Prosecutors in the tax evasion case argued prior to Alamo's sentencing that he was a flight risk, and a polygamist who conducted inappropriate activities with women and girls in his organization.

The Tony Alamo Christian Ministry organization promotes a philosophy and belief system which asserts sex with underage girls and polygamy is acceptable. The organization is critical of Catholicism, homosexuality, and the government. Tony Alamo Christian Ministry has compounds in Arkansas, California, Georgia and New Jersey, and Alamo himself lives near Los Angeles.