Witness: Evangelist Had 9-Year-Old Wife

Bail Denied For Tony Alamo In Sex Abuse Case As Former Followers Testify They Were Beaten

(AP)  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.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant noted that Alamo is charged with a violent crime and said he also considered that Alamo fled a California child-abuse charge in 1989 and was arrested two years later in Tampa, Fla., living under an assumed name. Alamo has access to various vehicles, he said.

Witnesses said Alamo controls businesses and ministry locations in several states. They said none of the properties are Alamo's name, which Bryant also considered as a point against letting Alamo free.

"There is serious risk (Alamo) will flee or fail to appear," Bryant said.

Alamo, 74, said nothing after the ruling. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 19.

He was arrested in Flagstaff, Ariz., five days after a Sept. 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.

During Wednesday's hearing, Arkansas state troopers searched the compound anew, State Police spokesman Bill Sadler confirmed, not elaborating. Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis said residents told him the investigators did not stay long.

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.

Sprinkle said she, her parents and others were beaten. She said a 12-year-old boy was paddled to the point of bleeding through his clothes and could walk only with assistance.

Sprinkle also described Alamo's control over people in his organization, saying he even had to approve inconsequential expenses such as toilet paper and toothpaste.

Spencer Ondirsek, 18, testified that he left the compound last year after spending seven years there.

Ondirsek said he was beaten by a man working under Alamo's direction. He said he was hit about 15 times on the face and smacked about 30 times with a three-foot paddle in three separate instances while being disciplined for minor misbehavior, such as playing with a spray bottle.

The first beating happened when he was 12 or 13, Ondirsek testified.

Defense lawyers called Ronald and Joan Decker, a couple that has belonged to Alamo's church. They said they would move from Fort Smith to Texarkana to watch over Alamo if he was granted release.

Ronald Decker said he drives a truck for Advantage Food, which he described as a partnership, but he couldn't come up with a figure when federal prosecutor Kyra Jenner asked him how much he earned. He later said Alamo paid for all the couple's living expenses.

"Pastor Alamo controls the church," Ronald Decker said.

Ronald Decker initially denied seeing any beatings. But when asked by Jenner whether he was aware Alamo orders paddlings, Decker paused before saying yes.

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.

[tangouniforn]

This is just another example of why theocracy should be resisted at all costs. Whenever a religious leader (usually a male), they become corrupt. We should resist every attempt to remove the wall between religion and the state.

[otrama]

CBS continues to expose itself as ignorant to the evangelical movement or hostile to it. We of the movement do not know which one it is.
For those of you seeking to not be mislead by CBS:
HE IS NOT AN EVANGELIST, he is a cult leader.
CBS News previously understood the distinction, but they are either declining in wisdom or declining in decency.
This is the understood definition of an evangelist:
1. A writer of the four original gospels
2. A person who seeks to communicate the message of grace and forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ.

This guy is so removed from the standard definition that one is led to consider that CBS is now openly hostile to the Christian faith to equate this sick, depraved madman with evangelism.

[amurguz]

Evangelical cult leader. They do exist, and you should come to grips with that fact. Don''t be the ostrich burying its head in the sand, because that''s exactly what you sound like; or need we bring up David Koresch?

[myopinion381]

What ever you want to call this guy, evangelical cult leader or just cult leader really doesn''t make any difference. He is a sick b*****d that needs to go to prison for the rest of his life. Let the other prisioners have fun with him. Most of them have a hard time with anyone that abuses a child.

[mandalay-bay]

I don''t know. He looks like a nice guy to me......

[questionnews]

He has that "I don''t want to go to prison and have large mean men do to me what I did to those kids." look on his face.

Actually, the picture looks like the large mean man is already behind him.

[elpaulito]

haha. its gods way remember. how one religious nut can call this guy a nut is beyond me.

[myopinion381]

The guys that are currently in prison are probably saying to themselves - "oh goody, fresh meat"

[tess126]

otrama; CBS is simply reporting the news, they''re not going to be pulled into a game of semantics. Tony Alamo IS an evangelical christian, and, a perverted pedophile who needs to be locked up for life. It''s just like Christians to distance themselves from EACH OTHER when one behaves despicably. You call the Catholic Church a cult too, but nobody is buying that either. There are some 34,000 Christian sects alone; you can''t even agree on ONE truth, or ONE interpretation of the Bible, so don''t try to come on hear and defend evangelicals by calling--yet another Christian sect--a cult.

I agree with another poster who said that he''ll now get the same treatment in jail that he dished out to others. Amen to that.

[beader59]

First off no one can marry a 9-year old and to have a headline like this is ridiculous. Do not give this scum the courtesy of calling this abuse a marriage in a headline. Good job CBS!

[macusweil]

adds whole new meaning to term Jesus freak

[myopinion381]

Time to go take your medication brdliky6. Oh, that''s right, nothing would help you. Psycho.

[ojfan1]

Its sad that so many people live their lives and everything they do they say its "in the name of the Lord". I hate what people like this idiot are doing to give religion a bad name. There are some good citizens in America who are honest Christians. Yet, when someone like Hoffman bring reproach and gives religion a bad name, the result of this is that more and more people turn away from the Church and, I must say, have a good reason. God will understand those people more than he will the people that profess to be a Christian but doesn''t identify with His commandments and His righteous life.

[rickstas]

LOL macusweil!!!!

[myopinion381]

This was obviously the Lords Will...Praise Jebus..Amen. Posted by singinrich at 06:40 PM

Is that one of those evangelical cult leaders? Can''t say I have ever heard of "Jebus".

[andrew_693]

this is another example of a good GOP christian, an example of good family brady bunch values.

[renonv5]

This is one sick puppy.

[swingset4u]

this is another example of a good GOP christian, an example of good family brady bunch values.

Posted by andrew_693

Wish you wouldn''t put GOP and christian in the same sentence. It degrades the meaning of "Christian". Also, this guy is not christian. He is a cult leader. No religious value whatsoever!

[heero78-2009]

As the Republicans would say - At least he''s not a muslim.

[swingset4u]

BS - just proves the point that what it comes down to is that these buybull thumping evangelical christians are nothing but stinking paedophiles

Posted by cause_x

Again, he is NO christian. He is a CULT leader. Now you can get your religion from the bathroom wall. I have mine and you can keep your''s

[jbright9]

There are sure a lot of delusional people who profess to know GOD. What can you say about the intelligence of those that follow them??? The sad victims are the children of those people who feel they are following God''s will. There is certainly a lot of evil that hides behind religion.

[ender18-2009]

I cannot imagine how stupid and weak you must be to become indoctrinated by this person.

[bailmeout1]

So his real name is Bernie Lazar Hoffman, and as a fake name he comes up with Tony Alamo??????? *** *** ***

[rushlimpdrug]

WWMGD?
(What Would Mel Gibson Do?)

[sonny1sotroo]

Just like there are good dentists and bad dentists...good teachers in your kids'' school and one''s that are a joke...good mechanics who are masters at fixing your car and one''s who aren''t...there are Good Christians...and there are some really pretty horrible ones. U2 wrote "in the name of Love." the original title was supposed to be "in the name of God," but the record company didn''t think that''d go over so good & they changed it to "Love." Meanwhile: anything "God" or "Christ" leaning is fascinatingly irritating to a good many people in our Western Culture, isn''t it? Too bad...

[stopsocialis]

This man is no "evangelist" of Christianity. He is a leader of a cult. But of course the anti-Christian CBS categorizes him as an "evangelist" in their feeble attempt to associate him with Christians.

This is what they do.

Why don''t they mention the cult leader Muhammed, the self-professed "prophet" of Islam who''s last wife was 7 years old.

Oh that''s right, because they would be "offending" Muslims.

But for them to associate Christianity with this cult leader is perfectly fine.

Sick freaks.

[stopsocialis]

You all believe in adult Santa Claus and you are all child rapists and molesters and pathological liars.

Posted by O_The_POTUS at 08:43 PM : Oct 22, 2008

Actually Christians don''t believe in Santa Claus, we believe in Jesus Christ, who actually exists and walked this earth 2,000 years ago and died on the cross and rose from the grave.

Secondly, we''re against child rapists and molesters, as these are evil sins, and we''re also against pathological liars, like Barak Hussein Obama.

The "prophet" Muhammed of islam was a child rapist and molester. Why don''t you talk about him instead.

[stopsocialis]

Meanwhile: anything "God" or "Christ" leaning is fascinatingly irritating to a good many people in our Western Culture, isn''''t it? Too bad...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by sonny1sotroo at 08:22 PM : Oct 22, 2008

Indeed, yet liberals are increasingly embracing "allah" and "Muhammed".

Imagine that.

[randycarol]

This guy is neither an evangelist or a cult leader...he is nothing but a criminal who has committed illegal acts against children, and should be justly punished for those acts. Child abuse is against the law, and to get caught up in the debate of whether he is a christian or any other term pertaining to religion is just Satan''s way of getting us sidetracked from the real issue. Skip the drama and go straight to the crime....don''t let him be a stumbling block to the practice of your true faith.

[ohioboomer]

Pig. Final answer.

[swingset4u]

You all believe in adult Santa Claus

Posted by O_The_POTUS

as opposed to a child santa claus???? who you calling a freak? Freak.

[robaldrich]

StopSocialis says: ''Secondly, [Christians are] against child rapists and molesters, as these are evil sins,''
-----

And what do you call God''s impregnating Mary by the Holy Spirit when she was about twelve years old (11-13 depending on who you ask] and having her marry a man in his mid-thirties?

[u-r-right]

Although he''s crazy and a pervert in the worst way, he sure doesn''t look like he is 74 years old!

[pjc27]

Isn''t that Palins pastor?

[robaldrich]

cataivy says: ''So his real name is Bernie Lazar Hoffman, and as a fake name he comes up with Tony Alamo???????''
-------------------

WHAT! ''FAKE'' name? This is America. Americans generally have the right to be called what they want, and to legally change their name to anything they like as long as the change is not done for fraudulent reasons.

Any person, including the police, can Google ''Tony Alamo,'' read one of the 352,000 responses, and learn that Mr. Alamo''s parents named him ''Bernie Lazar Hoffman.'' The Google responses said Mr. Alamo changed his name in 1966 for purposes relating to his singing career. Forty-two years later, the use of the Alamo name hardly constitutes fraudulent conduct.

[norepubs]

He''s a republican. No doubt.

[luvienne]

After all the wierdos we have seen, why are people so gullible? Common sense.

[hdstretch]

"For without the law, there is no sin." Book of Romans.

"The more corrupt, the numerous the laws." Tacitus.

The real crime isn''t that he did this this to a 9 yr old girl. The crime is that her parents stood by and watched, and did nothing.

"People who trade freedom for safety deserve neither." Ben Franklin.

[caliengineer]

Interesting, what they are saying. People from his church say he allowed no sexual perversion at all.

A neighbor said no such antics were going on.

The members are saying that Alamo preached against the Vatican and the Jesuits- who Alamo said were manipulating world events.

Listen to the current speaker there, Alberto Rivera, a former Jesuit. Rivera talks openly about the power of the "vaticano", which means "center of the Divine". He''s on YouTube. You MUST listen to Rivera. You will be stunned.

[caliengineer]

Scytherius: You have reduced yourself to a puppet. Evangelism is terrible?

Evangelism only means sharing your faith. Jesus told all his followers to do this. It is a must for Christians.

Anyone who decries evangelizing is uninformed about what Christianity is about.

[jerr11]

Crooks and sleazeballs use religion for their nefarious designs and that includes neocons Karl Rove, George Bush, and ******** Cheney who exploit the Christian right for their greed.

4184 Dead Americans (so far) for Halliburton and Bush''s cronies.

War is great for no-bid contracts!

[jydavis1]

why are so many christians pedophiles ?

[bohemiansf]

These are the same types of people who are against equality for *** (even though this country was set up by our founding fathers to be based on separation of church and state and equal rights for all). Evangelical Christians are un-American fantasists no different than Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and Islamic extremists. It''s all the same type of sick behavior, no matter which God they claim (or claim to be).

[bohemiansf]

I''m sorry, is *** (four letter word for "happy" used to refer for homosexuals) now a dirty word on CBS News? Can we even say homosexuals on here now? Wow. McCarthyism''s back in vogue all over the place it seems. I guess I''ll be getting my news elsewhere.

[smoothstone5]

The Bible talks about people like this guy.They are called false prophets.This is not a true believer of Jesus.

[mannamaribet]

Just because Bush and Cheney are irresponsible criminal politicians doesn''t make all politicians irresponsibile and criminals.
Likeways, because this man is a criminal pastor doesn''t make all Christian pastors, or Christians either for that matter criminals or evil.
Mass generalizations are what caused the holocaust.
Respect where respect is due and punishment for criminals would deal with this situation correctly.

[carlylaine]

Gadszooks! When I read what the thumpers write-I get so ticked off. Sanctimonious wretches.

When I read what athesists write...I think this is a group that needs to .... IN OTHER WORDS ALL YA''LL MAKE ME SCHIZOPHRENIC!!!!!!

To CBSNEWS: Please please please stop write about religion. It brings out all manner of freaks. And I find that I am one of them.

[attalus-2009]

Wow! I wonder if this guy got his inspiration from Mohammad? Didn''t he also have a taste for young girls?

[andrew_693]

well he says he is a christian and he convinced his herd by using the bible, I guess there must be a child rape message in that book because a lot child molesters use it all the time and it works wonder as we can see.

[jehovahwtnss]

I suggest that bohemiansf use the word "woofter" or "queer"