9/7/10 – Alamo appeal scheduled for Sept. 21st in St. Louis
Portland Humanist Examiner
September 7, 2010
Michael Stone, Portland Humanist Examiner
Tony Alamo Christian Ministries named defendant in child bride lawsuit
Tony Alamo Christian Ministries has been named as a defendant in a child bride lawsuit.
Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, and businesses owned and run by members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, and Alamo’s wife, Sharon, are among defendants named in a civil lawsuit filed by victims of Tony Alamo.
Six former members of convicted preacher Tony Alamo’s church claim the ministry, related organizations and certain high-ranking members of Alamo’s enterprise knew, or should have known, Alamo was sexually abusing children.
The complaint alleges violations of federal law concerning human trafficking that gives victims the right to recover damages in a federal case.
The lawsuit asks for at least $150,000 per plaintiff, compensation for past physical pain and suffering, past and future mental anguish and past and future medical expenses.
Alamo was convicted last year of taking underage girls across state lines for sex and sentenced to 175 years in prison. He is asking for a new trial.
Five of the six who filed the lawsuit say Alamo took them as wives and had sex with them when they were underage. The sixth says she was being groomed to be a child bride but escaped.
Meanwhile federal appeals court has scheduled oral arguments in Alamo’s criminal case. Alamo is currently appealing his 175-year prison sentence for sex charges. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis has scheduled oral arguments for Sept. 21. Alamo, who has maintained his innocence, appealed his sentence after a jury found him guilty of 10 counts of transporting minors across state lines for sex.
Alamo was also ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution, $500,000 each to five Jane Does with whom Alamo allegedly had sex, plus a $250,000 fine.
The 75-year-old evangelist is being held in a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz.