6/21/11 – Alamo Assets Hunted To Pay Damages. Alamo Ministries Compound Still Active
KTBS NEWS
June 21, 2011
by Nick Caloway
Alamo Assets Hunted to Pay Damages. Alamo Ministries Compound Still Active
In addition to serving a 175 year prison term, Tony Alamo and his ministry have been ordered in civil judgments to pay millions in damages for abusing some of his followers.
The civil judgments are that he abused some of his followers by sexually molesting girls, ordering beatings and forcing adults and children alike to work long hours for little or no pay.
The judge who sent Alamo to prison ordered him to pay $500,000 each to his five child brides. Those underage girls, now adults, have a civil suit pending. They want additional damages.
There was another trial in Texarkana this month. Alamo and his church were ordered to pay $66 million in restitution to two men who said they were beaten while living in the 15 acre Alamo compound in Fouke, Arkansas.
Lawyers believe Alamo’s ministry at times had a trucking company, a hog farm, a restaurant, and made rhinestone-studded denim jackets for Hollywood celebrities.
Alamo’s attorney, John Wesley Hall, Jr., said Alamo has no money to pay the judgments.
Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis is hopeful that the victims get the damages awarded to them, but says it will be difficult since none of the property is in Alamo’s name.
“Of course I’m sure they’ve got the means and the knowledgeable people to do that, but I believe it will take a lot of time to trace it back to him,” Purvis said.
“I hope they never stop trying.”
The compound was raided in 2008 by federal and state law enforcement.
At its peak, around 300 people lived on the Fouke compound. As many as 12 of Alamo’s followers are said to still be living in seclusion on the compound.
Three men who were spotted on the property Tuesday refused comment to KTBS. When asked if he was a follower of Tony Alamo Ministries, one man responded, “I’m a follower of Jesus Christ” as he walked away.