Unsolved Mysteries: Tony Alamo Part 1 on YouTube

Unsolved Mysteries: Tony Alamo Part 2 on YouTube

Update: Alamo Followers Once Avoided The Media, Now Embracing It?

Tony Alamo and his followers have always refused to talk to the media; citing news organizations are un-trusting and evil. However, recent actions by the religious group show they may be changing their minds towards the media.

The Tony Alamo controversy continues to make headlines in Arkansas. And for what may be the first time, followers are reaching out to the media after years of calling it evil and the mouth of Satan.

This month, parents of a teenaged Alamo follower leaked a video of their daughter to the Internet. It shows a state investigator interviewing the girl less than 24 hours after she was taken from the compound in September.

The teen says, “There is nothing that I am trying to hide. Sometimes I think if only everybody lived the way we lived in our ministry, the world would be perfect. They wouldn’t have any crimes, you know crime scenes, nobody would ever be hurt.”

For nearly two hours, the teen tells the child welfare official that Alamo never touched her or had sex with underage girls. And that those acts are only those of a “backslider.”

“If anything happened to anybody, you know if anybody was ever molested in the church, Tony would put them out immediately. He doesn’t tolerate that.”

After that initial posting, five others were later leaked online.

Then last week, Julie Munsell with the Department of Health and Human Services says someone from Alamo’s ministry mailed a video copy to the Democrat Gazette.

Sunday, the newspaper printed interview excerpts on the front page of the local section.

Munsell explains, “They see it as a vehicle to get out there, to try and shape the public perception of their organization and they are well with in their rights to speak out on their behalf. Our concern is when it crosses into the line, the privacy of their children.”

Munsell is worried about the children’s process of healing, along with emotional concerns and the embarrassment.

“It is a very difficult process, a very challenging process that once it has been out for public consumption than it can just continue to feed off of itself. We might be seeing this same information in different forms for months to come, unfortunately,” Munsell says.

Its information disclosed by those inside the ministry, Alamo followers, now possibly with a different perception of the “so called” evil media.

Since the original interviews by child welfare officials with the 36 kids taken from the compound, DHS says many of the children have changed their stories saying physical and sexual abuse did go on at the ministry.

All six interviews were conducted at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Texarkana, Texas, on Sept. 21, a day after more than 100 federal and state police officers and child-welfare caseworkers raided the ministry’s compound in Fouke.

Tony Alamo, the ministry’s 74-year-old pastor, was arrested in Arizona five days later. He is in jail in Texarkana awaiting trial on charges that he transported five other underage girls across state lines for sexual purposes over the past 14 years. The trial is set for Feb. 2, but Alamo’s attorney, John Wesley Hall Jr. of Little Rock, on Wednesday requested that it be postponed, saying he needed more time to investigate.

“The defense believes that there is a potential statute of limitations argument as to a few counts that still needs to be explored,” Hall wrote in a motion for a continuance.

Under federal law, the statute of limitation for sexual crimes against a child extends for the life of the child or 10 years after the offense, whichever is longer.

In the videotaped interviews, the six girls, ages 10-17, describe Alamo’s teachings about marriage and the church’s practice of keeping boys and girls separate to prevent “fornication.” The girls praise Alamo. Those who are asked deny that they have ever been abused.

“I get the hint that they took us away because they think that our pastor is, like, abusing us or raping us,” one of the girls, age 17, says in the interview. “Believe me, if someone was abusing me or doing something, believe me, I would say something about it. I’m not the type of person that just keeps my mouth shut.”

The Arkansas Department of Human Services contends that providing the video recordings to media outlets violates the girls’ privacy. The department cites Arkansas Code 20-78-106, which requires that information gathered at children’s advocacy centers for sexual abuse allegations be kept confidential.

“We have the same concerns that we had with the original video [of the 16-year-old] being released,” department spokesman Julie Munsell said Wednesday of the videos released to the newspaper. She said she wasn’t sure what action, if any, the department might take in response to the leak.

The video recording of the 16-year-old was posted on the Google Video Web site late last month by the operator of the Internet radio station, FirstAmendmentRadio. com. A link was posted on the Web site of Tom Friess, who hosts a talk show on the station.

Last week, the state Department of Human Services filed a motion in Miller County Circuit Court asking for an order directing the girl’s parents, Richard and Debra Ondrisek, to ask the station to take down the video. The order would also direct the Ondriseks not to share the video with anyone else. A hearing on the motion is set for today.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Debra Ondrisek acknowledged that she provided the video to the radio station. She said she would comply with the Human Services Department’s request.

“We’re law-abiding people,” Ondrisek said.

Attorney Jim Phillips of Little Rock, who represents the Ondriseks in their efforts to regain custody of her 13-year-old son, who was among the removed children in the case, said the Ondriseks reached an agreement with the Human Services Department on Wednesday to ask to have the video taken down. Debra Ondrisek also agreed to ask President Bush to return a copy of the recording that she says she sent him. The agreement was submitted to Miller County Circuit Judge Jim Hudson for his approval late Wednesday, Phillips said.

Debra Ondrisek said she didn’t know who sent DVDs with recordings of the other five videos to the Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday.

They were delivered via Federal Express, with the address of the church in Fouke listed as the sender. A note explained, “We are distraught citizens who are fighting for justice. The enclosed tells the truth that has been hidden by the government.”

The six girls were the first of 36 children placed in foster care during the investigation. After hearing allegations by former church members of sexual abuse and underage marriages, judges in Miller County Circuit Court ruled in November that the six girls will remain in foster care but can eventually be reunited with their parents if their parents agree to move off of church property and find jobs outside the ministry.

At least two of the six girls are alleged to have been beaten. The others were deemed to be at risk in an environment where violations of church rules were enforced by beatings. None of the six girls was alleged to have been sexually abused.

The five girls in the video recordings sent to the Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday include a 14-year-old and two pairs of sisters – one ages 11 and 12 and the other ages 10 and 17. All of them have fathers in the church and mothers who have left or been kicked out.

Three of the girls said they had been staying in a room together at the sprawling house on the compound known as the “school and mission,” where Alamo and several women also had been living. They said the house has classroom space and places for girls to stay when their parents are away. Alamo had his own room in the house. Two of the girls lived at the nearby “green house,” along with one of their adult sisters.

Like the 16-year-old, the girls described the church’s rule that people are not allowed to interact with members of the opposite sex outside of their families. If a man wants to get married, he asks Alamo for permission, who then asks the woman. If she’s interested, the two are allowed to meet with their parents present, the girls said.

The girls also reiterated Alamo’s teaching that girls are ready to be married when they begin menstruating.

“Mary was 10 when she was married to Joseph, and she’s the one who had Jesus,” the 11-yearold said. But like the other girls, she said the church does not allow marriage at ages younger than 18. She was not asked about polygamy, but the girls who were said the church does not allow people to have multiple wives, even though the Bible allows it.

“One man can have as many wives as the Lord gives him,” the 17-year-old said. She said God gave Abraham four wives “and that was OK with God, because whatever God wants to do, what is man to say, ‘No, God you can’t do this”?

The girls were all dressed casually in jeans or shorts. The 17-year-old stared at the floor as she spoke, looking dejected as she sat with her hands between her knees. But her 10-year-old sister bounced around her chair, grinning as she talked about getting candy on “treat day” – Friday – and playing kickball at the compound during recess at school.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at the camera. Told the answer, she smiled and said, “They’re videoing us?”

The girls talked about going “tracting” – traveling across the country with other church members, passing out religious tracts. They said the children could watch “clean” movies – cartoons, Bible movies, old Western films and Alfred Hitchcock films but weren’t allowed to watch television or surf the Internet.

Those who were asked about their mothers or other relatives who had left the church had harsh responses.

“I don’t want to see her,” one girl said of her mother, who she said was kicked out for abusing prescription drugs. “I can tell she didn’t love me or care about me, so it’s basically her fault.”

In addition to saying he needed more time to investigate, Alamo’s attorney said in his motion for a continuance in the criminal trial that he is up for jury duty next month.

“While lawyers and judges may find jurors a necessary evil, it is still a civic duty for the person called,” Hall wrote.

In a court filing opposing the request for a continuance, acting U.S. Attorney Debbie Groom said Hall hadn’t cited a compelling reason for a delay. She noted that Hall didn’t say whether he had explored such options as having his name removed from the jury panel and placed in a future panel.

TEXARKANA – A teenage follower of jailed evangelist Tony Alamo talked openly about her beliefs, the church, and her pastor. The conversation comes in a video that was leaked on the internet. We first aired video of the child welfare interview Wednesday on 5NEWS at 10, and now we’re bringing you more from the nearly two hour tape that was leaked.

You’ll recall that Alamo’s compound in Fouke, Arkansas was raided on September 20th…and children were seized by the state that same day. Alamo is accused of taking girls across state lines for sexual purposes, but it’s a charge that the 16-year-old vehemently denies. The teen told the interviewer that she’s never seen him do anything that would be a sin against the Bible. She told the story of a man who reportedly had AIDS and says he was healed after Pastor Tony prayed for him.

“You know if you get an answer from God like that he’s not going to be sinning. Everything he says in the messages I listen to it and believe it. That’s why I’m here. I want to help,” she said.

The teen told the welfare worker that she has never been touched inappropriately and is a virgin. The girl said that if she wasn’t, she would tell someone; she would tell the interviewer and went on to say that she had nothing to hide. According to her, Alamo has never “done anything to me”. She said the same of her friends, and asks the question, ‘what interest and old man would have in little kids?’

Julie Munsell, a DHS spokeswoman, said it appeared a family member passed the video along to a web site.

Alamo speaks only to KSLA News 12 after hearing deciding fate of children

TEXARKANA, AR (KSLA) – Controversial Evangelical Leader Tony Alamo spoke only to KSLA News 12 just moments after taking the stand Monday afternoon. The hearing was to decide the fate of two sets of sisters taken from Alamo’s ministry during a raid back in August.

“I wish I could be cross examined by somebody who knows the Bible.” Handcuffed in shackles and guarded under tight security, Alamo spoke as authorities were preparing to return him to jail.

“It’s exaggerations and a bunch of lies,” he said.

“I was surprised, not shocked, but surprised as to who subpoenaed him as opposed to him being subpoenaed,” said Circuit Court Judge Joe Griffin.

Griffin presided over the hearing in which he could give custody of the two sets of sisters back to their parents or to keep them in foster care.

On Friday, Judge Jim Hudson ruled another pair of sisters taken during that same raid could be returned to their parents only if the parents left the ministry. Griffin says that decision will not be a factor in the case he’s hearing.

“It’s steady. We’re pretty well proceeding as fast as the attorneys can get their questions posed to the witnesses,” Griffin said.

Along with the hearing on the fate of the girls, a probable cause hearing was held to determine if the State of Arkansas had enough cause to remove 20 more children from the compound during another raid last week.

“The hearings went very well. Everybody was in place. CASA was appointed to the cases this morning,” said CASA Representative Danita Abernathy.

Abernathy says right now the children are being cared for by the state and will remain there until another adjudication hearing scheduled for January 12th.

“Any visits that take place here in Texarkana will be facilitated by our staff,” Abernathy said.

Members of the media were not allowed inside the courtroom while Alamo was on the stand.

The custody hearings for four of the girls removed from the Tony Alamo Ministries in Fouke, Arkansas continued Monday. Lawyers representing the State called Tony Alamo to the stand. Alamo left Texarkana’s Bi-State Jail to testify. State police escorted Alamo inside the Texarkana Juvenile Courthouse. “I have no expectations on what testimony may or may not be. At this point, I don’t know what that is,” Miller County Circuit Judge Joe Griffin said. Alamo awaits trial for moving children across state lines for sex. Judge Griffin said Alamo could plead the fifth and not talk in court. “I don’t know what advice Alamo is getting from his lawyer. I won’t know until he takes the stand,” Griffin said. At the Miller County Courthouse just down the street, Judge Kirk Johnson held a probable cause hearing for the 20 children taken Tuesday. “The court was very well prepared for many people but not even half of the courtroom was full,” Court Appointed Special Advocate Danita Abernathy said. The parents chose not to testify Monday, waiting for the custody hearings set for January 12th. “When they take your kids, of course I was very concerned. My son is almost 18, and has always been a good kid,” Parent Jose Avila said. The Avila family came from Guatemala and joined the Alamo Church looking for a better life. “This is a very stressful time for us because we know he’s detached from home. We know he’s having the stress, and we want him back,” Aunt Rita Avila said. Last Friday, two custody hearings ended. Judge Jim Hudson decided that parents must break all ties with the church in order to get custody. Judge Griffin said that decision will not affect his, which should come Tuesday.

Alamo Kids Remain in State Custody

DHS Explains Second Alamo Warrant

(Fouke, Ark.) KTHV — Twenty children are now in protective custody with the state after more investigations into the Tony Alamo Ministries.

A line of state police cars made their way into the Fouke headquarters of the Tony Alamo Ministries, authorities armed with a court order to take more children into protective custody.

But they found no children in the compound, or in 14 Fort Smith homes also searched.

Troopers later pulled over two vans on a Miller County highway and found 17 children inside. They took three more into state custody at the courthouse.

Julie Munsell of DHS says, “We had been gathering information, gathering evidence over the last several weeks, but was actually sped up by the reported movement of families and children in the area. So we went ahead and decided to execute the court order that we had received for the removal of the children.”

A judge criticized the Texas Department of Human Services and ordered the children of a religious compound near San Angelo returned to their parents after that state took the kids into protective custody. It’s a case involving similar allegations of sexual abuse.

Arkansas DHS turned information over to the courts, and made their move Tuesday only after a judge gave the okay.

Munsell explains, “Obviously here the drive is protecting children. We want to make sure that we’re doing that. But we want to make sure that we do it well. Aand sometimes you need the additional action or the additional guidance from the court to help you make that decision. And that’s what we asked for here.”

As of Tuesday night, 11 boys and 9 girls, ranging in age from one to 17, are in the protective custody of the state.