Tony Alamo Faces New Underage Sex Charges

Tony Alamo Christian Ministries faces an uncertain future with its controversial Catholic-bashing, gay-hating, pro-polygamy, convicted tax-cheat founder scheduled to go to trial Feb. 2 on federal charges stemming from his alleged sexual contact with underage girls.

Alamo — whose birth name is Bernie LaZar Hoffman — and his late wife, Susan, began the ministry in 1969 in California. Among other things, followers were warned that if they left the church they would burn in hell. Wayward disciples were dealt punishments ranging from beatings to losing their spouse and children. The Alamos moved their headquarters to Arkansas in 1975, and that's where Tony Alamo, 74, has been jailed since September.

Six days before his arrest, about 100 state and federal law enforcement officers raided the Alamo Ministries' 15-acre compound in the small town of Fouke, near the Texas state line, following allegations of child pornography and other child abuse there. Six girls aged 10 to 17 were taken into temporary state custody. Alamo was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting an underage girl's transport across state lines for sex in 2004 and 2005.

At subsequent court hearings, an 18-year-old man described beatings inflicted on him by another church member, and a 14-year-old girl testified that Alamo touched her inappropriately while she showered. She also said she was beaten by one of Alamo's enforcers, and she described discipline that included being deprived of food for three to seven days.

In November, state officials tried to remove more than 100 more children from the Alamo compound. They found none. But three children were taken into state custody as they attended a court hearing on the custody status of the four girls taken in the September raid. Seventeen more children were found in two SUVs being driven toward Texas and out of the jurisdiction of Arkansas child welfare agencies, and they, too, were taken into state custody. The following month, another six children in Indiana associated with Alamo's church also were placed in state foster homes pending court hearings.

After his September arrest, a new indictment was unsealed charging Alamo with eight more counts of transporting four underage girls across state lines for sexual purposes over a period of 14 years. One girl said that when she was about 9 years old in 2000, she and Alamo exchanged wedding vows, according to court records. Another girl said that when she was 11 years old in 2003, she "married" Alamo and had sex with him. A confidential source told authorities that Alamo kept candy and Barbie dolls in his bedroom.