Showing posts with label Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Show all posts

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Pastor Tony Alamo Convicted on Sex Charges

Why is it that it seems the main people one sees either cheating on their wives or getting busted on sex charges are Republican "family values" politicians and professional Christians who make comfortable livings fleecing the sheeple? The latest Professional Christian to receive a "go to jail" card is Tony Alamo who it seems has a taste for under age girls - in one case as young as nine. That's beyond sick. True, I know that infidelity goes on among liberals and secular folk, but they don't engage in the rank hypocrisy of the closed zipper challenge GOP politicos and professional Christians. As one who cannot stand hypocrisy, it's good to see hypocrites like Alamo go down. Personally, the sooner more Christianist frauds like Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Lou Engle, et al, are exposed the better off society will be. Here are highlights on Alamo's conviction from The Times-Picayune:
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Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars, was convicted Friday of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex.
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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. "I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted.
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The jury of nine men and three women took about 11 hours to consider the charges against Alamo. The 10-count federal indictment accused him of taking his underage "wives" across state lines as early as 1994.
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Jury foreman Frank Oller of Texarkana, Ark., said jurors deliberated more than a day only to ensure they considered everything. The testimony convinced them the 74-year-old evangelist kept the girls as sexual partners, not office workers as his defense team claimed. "That was the evidence. That was proven," Oller said. "We came up with a full decision that we are quite satisfied with."
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U.S. Assistant Attorney Kyra Jenner said Alamo's conviction would end his cycle of abuse, as he told his followers God instructed him to marry younger and younger girls. . . . Defense lawyers said the government targeted Alamo because it doesn't like his apocalyptic brand of Christianity.
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Alamo, who founded the ministry with his wife Susan in the 1960s, remained defiant during the trial. He blurted out a reference to the Branch Davidian raid at Waco, Texas, muttered expletives during testimony and fell asleep even while alleged victims were testifying.
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It continues to baffle me how people can be brainwashed into believing that the mouth pieces for the Christianists organizations speak for God when in reality they what they really thirst for power, control and most importantly money.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Christian "Ministries" Leader Allegedly Had 9 Year Old Wife

A while back I did a post or two about the FBI and police raid on the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries compound in southwest Arkansas fueled by concerns that Alamo took a minor across state lines for sex. Now, new reports are that Alamo (pictured at left) will not be released on bond and that he may have had a 9 year old girl among his alleged multiple wives. I find the situation ironic in that Alamo and his "ministries" are precisely the types of "Christians" rallying to the standard of Sarah Palin. Gay marriage bad, religious lunacy and fanaticism good. Here are some highlights from CNN.com:
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A federal magistrate called Tony Alamo a flight risk Wednesday as he ordered the evangelist held without bail until his trial on charges that he took a minor across state lines for sex. The ruling came after Alamo's former followers testified at a hearing that they were often beaten at his instructions and one said Alamo practiced polygamy with several females, including a 9-year-old girl.
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Alamo, 74, said nothing after the ruling. His trial is scheduled for November 19. He was arrested in Flagstaff, Arizona, five days after a September 20 police raid on the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries compound in the southwest Arkansas town of Fouke. Six girls were taken into state custody for their protection.
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One witness called to the stand by prosecutors Wednesday, Jael Sprinkle, 32, testified that she was taken as Alamo's wife at age 17 and was considered his wife for two years. She said that Alamo had five other wives at the time and that she knew of him taking a 9-year-old girl as one.
Alamo is an advocate of allowing girls to marry when they reach puberty but has denied such unions took place within his organization.
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The federal charging document accuses Alamo of taking a 13-year-old girl across state lines for sex in 2004 and of aiding and abetting her transport across state lines for sex in 2005. Alamo, who is listed in court documents by his real name of Bernie Lazar Hoffman, has pleaded not guilty to the two charges, each of which carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.