FBI: Girls told agent evangelist Alamo abused them

FBI: Girls told agent evangelist Alamo abused them

By PEGGY HARRIS, Associated Press Writer Peggy Harris, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 4, 6:19 pm ET

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Before evangelist Tony Alamo's arrest on federal sex charges, three girls who lived at his Arkansas compound told an FBI agent that he had sexually abused them, and one said he had threatened to have "someone take care of you" if she talked, according to a newly unsealed FBI affidavit.

Two of the girls said Alamo married them, one at age 9 and the other at age 11, according to the affidavit unsealed Tuesday. One also allegedly said she saw photos Alamo had taken of naked girls.

Alamo, 74, who heads Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, has pleaded not guilty to 10 federal counts that accuse him of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that bans carrying women or girls across state lines for "prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose." The minister has maintained that "consent is puberty" when it involves sex with young girls.

Thirty-two juveniles associated with Alamo have been taken into protective custody since a Sept. 20 raid on his compound in Fouke. Alamo was arrested in Arizona five days after the raid.

Before the raid, FBI agent M. Randall Harris filed an affidavit describing information he said he received in interviews with three girls who had lived at the compound and from a confidential informant.

One girl, now 17, said Alamo molested her when she was 8 and she and the minister "exchanged wedding vows" May 17, 2000, when she was 9.
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